After the Metarex: Tails' and Cosmo's Story
by TailsLovesCosmo
Summary: Tails and Cosmo are reunited! But their troubles have only begun. Tails' parents disapprove of Cosmo, and Red Pine prepares for his appearance on Mobius. Can love survive when fate seems to keep throwing obstacles in their path?
1. Chapter One: Getting To Know You

After the Metarex: Tails' and Cosmo's Story Part One

Chapter One

"Getting To Know You"

"Tails! Tails, what's wrong?" Cosmo cried as Tails collapsed onto the floor right in front of her. "Speak to me! Tails! Tails! Tails!" She bent over him. "Oh no! Mother! I've hurt him! Mother, help me!"

But there was no reply. It seemed that Cosmo was on her own now.

Cosmo got him to his couch. She took off his left glove, then removed his shoes. She stroked his forehead, then went looking for his bedroom to fetch him a pillow and blanket. She had never been in Tails' house before, so she had no idea where anything was. She found herself in his kitchen. Maybe he needed something to eat. She opened his refrigerator. There was a small plate with one of Cream's cakes on it, and nothing else. The freezer held a tray of ice cubes and something wrapped in foil. She unwrapped it, but couldn't tell what it had been.

She checked the cupboards. A partial box of cereal. A nearly empty tin of tea bags. One can of chili. Why didn't he have any food?!?

She found three bedrooms, and a closed door. She was curious about that, but now wasn't the time to go exploring. The first bedroom seemed spotless. The furnishings seemed too feminine for Tails. She had seen Tails with his parents, hadn't she? While her memories up until her sacrifice were clear, it was very difficult to remember anything after she had seen Super Sonic and Super Shadow flying towards her. Her visits with her friends were unclear, but clearer than the rest of the time she'd been gone. A picture of a young fox couple, the man looking like an older Tails, convinced her she was probably in their room. She moved on to the next room.

This room seemed unoccupied. Several boxes sat against one wall. Was it used for storage? Hadn't there been someone else there with Tails? Yes, an elder brother. This reminded her that she'd met her own brother. The first Thorndrigan she'd ever seen that hadn't been a maniac. Proof that the males of her people hadn't been all bad.

The third room proved to be a mess. Food wrappers and utensils lay scattered about. Hadn't one of her sisters told her that boys were terrible housekeepers? But Tails had always been so neat. Had he stopped caring because of her?

"I'll just have to clean this up," she decided. "But first, I'll finish what I came here for." She took the pillow and blanket from the bed, and returned to the living room. She covered him with the blanket, then gently lifted his head and placed the pillow beneath it. She brushed the hair out of his eyes and kissed him on the cheek. If he didn't wake up soon, she'd call for help. She returned to the messy room. "This is going to take awhile." Well, that was what friends did for each other, wasn't it? Friends…and people who were more than friends.  
Tails came to wondering how he'd ended up on the couch. He sighed. "Just a dream," he thought. "Just a beautiful, wonderful dream." He must have fallen asleep on the couch, although he couldn't remember getting a pillow and blanket. Maybe he'd started sleepwalking? Then he heard someone moving around on the other side of the house. A burglar, stealing one of his inventions? Doubtful. Ginger again? That was a distinct possibility. After all, she knew where he lived. But she wouldn't have given him a pillow and blanket. He suddenly noticed he wasn't wearing his gloves or shoes. Ginger wouldn't have removed them to help him feel more comfortable.

"Must be Cream," he decided. He got up, and started towards his room, suddenly remembering the mess he'd left his room in. Cream and Vanilla were the only two people he could think of that would clean his room for him. Well, there was one other, but she was gone forever.

"Uh, hi," Tails said, stepping up to the doorway in his room. "Listen, I'm really sorry about the mess in my room, but…" He blinked. No, it couldn't be…

Cosmo had been making his bed when he'd spoken to her. She turned to him, a smile on her lips that froze as she watched him stagger. She raced forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Please don't faint again, Tails! You're scaring me!"

"Wha-what…?" Tails stammered, as she helped him sit down on his bed.

"I'm sorry!" she said, taking a step back. "I never wanted to hurt you again, and I'm still doing it!"

"No!" Tails cried, reaching out for her. "Please don't go away again!"

"If I'm upsetting you, I should leave," Cosmo said.

Tails caught her arm. Their eyes met. Again, Tails saw that same look he'd seen for months in his mirror. "You're really here, aren't you?" he asked. "I'm not dreaming, or losing my mind, am I?"

"No," Cosmo assured him, taking his hand in hers. "No, I'm really here." She sat down beside him. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Just having a little trouble processing this," Tails said. "If I've gone crazy, at least it's a nice fantasy world to spend the rest of my life in."

Cosmo gasped. "Don't joke about something like that! Being crazy is nothing to laugh about!"

Tails stared at her. "You know, don't you?" he asked. He felt so embarrassed. He hadn't wanted her to ever know about his meltdown, or Happy Acres.

But Cosmo seemed genuinely confused now. "Know what? Did something happen?"

"I'm sorry," Tails said, hoping to change the subject. "I didn't know that making a joke like that would upset you."

Cosmo shook her head. "No, no, I never should have raised my voice like that to you. I've already upset you, and now I've shouted at you! I just can't seem to stop hurting you!" She fell over on his bed, burying her face in his blanket.

Tails placed his hands on her shoulders and gently lifted her up. "_You _hurt _me_?!?" he said. "Cosmo, I hurt you more than anyone ever could! I…I _shot_ you! I…I pointed a gun at you, and pulled the trigger, and…and…" He started to cry.

"But…but none of that was your fault!" Cosmo said, holding him close. "We all did what we had to do, Tails. You, me, Sonic, Shadow…none of us could have turned from those paths at the end."

"If I'd just had more time!" Tails sobbed. "I tried and I tried to find another way…_any_ other way, but…but I just couldn't find any!"

"Shh," she hissed, patting him on the back. "It's okay." She shut her eyes. Dimly, she could almost remember there _had_ been another way. What was it? Someone had refused to help them. Yes, that was it. Someone had stayed out of the fight, had stood by and watched coldly while Cosmo sacrificed herself and hurt the one she loved. Who? Who would have done such an awful thing? Why couldn't she remember?

"Cosmo?" Tails said, his fingers suddenly running across her face. "Is something wrong? Are you sick?"

"No, Tails," Cosmo said. "I was just wondering…what other way there might have been."

"If I could go back, I wouldn't have done it!" Tails said firmly.

Cosmo shook her head, then stared into his eyes. "No, Tails. You really did have to do it. We would have all died otherwise." She sighed. "Well, Dark Oak _did_ say he could have saved _me_ if I'd joined him. But I couldn't have lived that way."

"If it had just been me, I'd've given up my life for you," Tails said.

"No!" Cosmo said firmly. She clenched her fists. "No more people giving up their lives for others! I don't ever want anyone else to have to go through the nightmare we did."

"Are you okay?" Tails asked, staring at her.

"Cosmo bit her lip. "I know what you're thinking," she said. "You're wondering if I'm really me, or another of Doctor Eggman's robots or a clone grown by the Metarex."

"No! I wasn't thinking that!" Tails assured her. But then, he remembered, Metal Cosmo had looked just like her. And how had she known about Metal Cosmo?

"I'm really me, Tails," Cosmo assured him, climbing off of his bed. "I'm the same person you knew before. At least, I hope I'm the same." She bowed her head. "If…if I start acting strangely, you'll tell me, won't you?"

Tails jumped off the bed. There was a moment of dizziness, but he shook it off. "Why would you act strangely?" he demanded. "Don't you feel the same?"

Cosmo looked away. "It's…it's nothing I can clearly put into words, Tails," she muttered.

"Please try, Cosmo," Tails begged, placing his hands on her shoulders again. "If something's bothering you, you need to let me help."

She patted his hands. "I have…vague memories of…of going somewhere…of being with my family. They're very faint, fuzzy, like dreams. The more I try to cling to them, the more they vanish from my mind. There were things I was supposed to do. I need to tell Sonic and Shadow _something_, but I can't remember what!"

"Shadow? Why would you need to tell him anything?" Tails asked. He sounded confused now. She turned back to him. He looked as confused as he'd sounded. And a little angry.

"You're still angry at him, aren't you?" Cosmo asked.

"Yes, and I always will be," Tails said. "He tried to kill you! He said he thought it would be better for both of us if we never found out about your being a spy. That's just sick."

"Tails," Cosmo said softly. "While I remember little since I died, I do know I asked you to stop being so angry. You can't keep hating people. Look what happened to my people, because Dark Oak and his generals couldn't let go of their anger!" She gasped. "Oh! I-I'm not comparing you to them or anything like that! I'm sorry!"

"It's okay. I know what you mean," Tails said. "With you by my side, I'm willing to try anything. But why do you need to speak to Shadow?"

"Someone wanted me to give him a message," she said. "Ma-maria? Yes, I think that was her name."

Tails looked even more confused now. "Maria Kintobor? Eggman's cousin? But--but she's dead!" He gasped as he realized what he'd just said.

"So was I," Cosmo whispered. "I remember being with my family. Not just the ones I knew, but _all _of them. Going back to the beginning of my people. That must really sound crazy to you!"

"No!" Tails assured her. "Is that why you're worried about being…different? Because you've seen things from…from the next world?"

"Maybe," Cosmo said, sitting down on his bed again. This time, _she_ seemed to be the dizzy one. She looked him in the eyes again. "Do you…do you really think that I _can_ be the same…after what's happened? My mother told me that I'd forget most of the other world. That it was for the best because memories of the afterlife would affect my ability to live in the land of the living." Tails' eyes bulged, his lower jaw dropped. His hands shook a little. "I'm upsetting you again, aren't I?" Cosmo said. She covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry! I'll try not to mention I was dead again!"

Tails sat down and wrapped his arms around her. "No, I'm sorry," he said softly. "I just…I don't think I'd be able to talk about something like that!"

"About being dead?" Cosmo asked.

"I'm sorry," Tails said again. "If you don't mind talking about it, then I can deal with it. It's just…it's just so difficult to accept that you were really…gone." He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I just can't seem to say it."

"That's okay," Cosmo said. "I'm sure if it had been the other way around, I'd be having the same problems you're having now." She gasped. "Cream, Amy, Knuckles…what if my coming back upsets them too? I don't want to hurt anyone."

"I'm sure they'll be very happy to see you again," Tails said quickly. Then he remembered how Cream had been acting the last few months. Should he tell her Cream had shown an interest in him?

****

Cream had planned to go to Tails' house, but decided to see Amy first. She had gone about halfway when she and Cream spotted Amy coming towards their house.

"Amy! Hi!" Cream called, jumping up and down and waving her arms.

"Hi, Cream!" Amy called. "Hi, Cheese!" She was wearing the same dress she'd worn to Tails' and Cosmo's party on the Blue Typhoon.

"Oh, wow, Amy," Cream said. "Even with your buttoned over it, that really looks pretty!"

"We need to take you shopping, girl!" Amy said.

"We've been shopping," Cream said. "Every week. My mom says they're all very nice, but we should probably just window shop more and buy less."

"Nah, what fun is that?" Amy demanded. "Hey, aren't Sonic and Tails coming over to your house? Why aren't you there?"

"Well, I was going to walk with Tails," Cream admitted, blushing. "But then I thought I'd ask you for some help with the party. My mom really means well, but she still thinks I should be playing pin the tail on the donkey."

Amy giggled. "Okay, let's get over to your house and see what we can come up with."

"Sure," Cream said. They started towards Cream's home. The little bunny started moving her lips as if she were talking to herself about something.

"Something bothering you?" Amy asked.

"No," Cream said. "Not really. I was just wondering…"

"Yes? Go on," Amy urged her.

"Does it seem like Tails has been…avoiding me lately?" Cream asked.

"Huh?" Amy said, stopping. "Why?"

"No reason," Cream said. "It just seems like…like he's afraid to be around me if you or my mom or Mister Sonic isn't there."

"Maybe he's a little nervous around you because he's starting to have feelings for you," Amy suggested.

"Maybe," Cream said. "But sometimes it seems like he's behaving the same way Mister Sonic…uh…" She looked at Amy, then looked around for some way to change the subject. "Do pimples hurt?"

Amy sputtered and dug through her purse for a mirror. "I have a pimple?!?" she cried. "Why didn't you tell me before?!?"

"No!" Cream reassured her. "You haven't had any for awhile now, Amy. I was just wondering."

"Don't worry," Amy said, checking her face carefully anyway. "You have a few years yet before you'll have that sort of problem."

"Okay," Cream said. "I can't wait for spring, can you?" Nothing ever seemed to bother her for very long.

****

"Something wrong?" Cosmo asked.  
"No," Tails assured her. Cosmo and Cream had been best friends before. He wasn't going to start anything between them. "Nothing's wrong."

"You're not sure how they'll react to seeing me again," Cosmo said. "You just don't want me to worry. That's very sweet. Well, Sonic and Shadow regenerated my body, so it shouldn't upset them at least. I don't know about the rest."

"It took so long for it to work, I was afraid something had gone wrong," Tails said. "I…I guess I just expected there to be a bright light, and…and you'd be back to yourself again."

Cosmo sighed. "My body was completely destroyed," Cosmo pointed out. She saw his face crumple and gave him a hug. "It's okay. It does sound terrible, doesn't it? But it's all right. It took a long time, but they did it! I made it back, Tails!"

"Yeah," Tails said. "No help from me." He looked away.

Cosmo ran her hand through his hair. "What? Of course you helped! You called me back. One thing I _do_ remember is that you never gave up on me. They healed my body. You helped me to heal my soul. You gave me the strength to put myself back together again."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Tails asked. "It must have been terrible, what you had to do. Merging with that monster, and…and standing there, waiting for…for me to…You were so brave!"

Cosmo laced her fingers together. "I hated him so much," she said. "My life didn't matter to me if I could stop him once and for all." She shut her eyes. "And I'm not as brave as you may think, Tails. Actually, I was terrified. If you'd waited much longer, I think…I think I might have changed my mind. I think I might have begged you to find another way. But once it actually happened…I wasn't afraid anymore. Just sad because…because I knew I'd be leaving my friends for good. Especially…especially you, Tails." She blushed and looked away.

"Do you remember what I told you, just before I…before I pushed the button?" Tails asked.

Cosmo looked back at him. "Yes, Tails, yes, I do. In fact…in fact I said the same thing. When I died. And I remember enough of our meetings that I know we said it to each other since then. But it's been so long. Do you still love me?"  
Tails threw his arms around her. "Always!" he sobbed. "I love you, Cosmo! I will always love you!"

"Then…then perhaps something positive came of that horror," Cosmo said, hugging him back. "I love you too! But I was so shy, I don't know how long I would have kept avoiding telling you my feelings. What happened drove us apart, but it brought us together."

"I felt the same way," Tails said. "I could have gone months, maybe years without telling you." His face hardened. "But I won't consider anything that happened back then being positive."

"I'm sorry," Cosmo said. "I've been negative for so long, I'm just trying to start looking on the bright side of everything. I was so full of anger and hate when we were fighting the Metarex. I want that to end now. I want to be happy."

"I'll do the best I can to make you happy," Tails promised. It was only then that he noticed something about her. "Um…are you wearing a towel?"

Cosmo looked down at herself. "Oh! I forgot I was wearing this. It was all I could find in your greenhouse. Did you need it back?"

"Uh…no," Tails said, blushing. "You can keep it!" He jumped up and ran to his dresser. "Uh…here! I have clothes for you! They might not quite fit, but they'll be good enough for a trip to the mall to buy you a new wardrobe."

"I don't want to be a bother," Cosmo said.

"No, no, no bother," Tails said, placing several t-shirts and shorts on the bed. He slid open his closet door and grabbed a handful of clothing without looking to see what it was. He laid them beside the other clothing. "Let's see, what else? I'm afraid I don't have any shoes that would fit your feet. I can carry you until we get you a pair of shoes, though. Green, right?" He got some socks, then said, "Wait! I think I have some flip-flops that might fit! I think they're under the bed." He stuck his head under the bed. "Man, it's dark under here!"

"You don't need to go to so much trouble," Cosmo insisted.

Tails' eyes adjusted enough for him to see the shoes weren't there. He crawled out to find Cosmo had put on a green t-shirt and…his plaid corduroys. "Is this all right?" she asked.

"Sure," Tails said, "you look great." Actually, those pants did look a lot better on her than they ever did on him.

"You really think so?" Cosmo asked. "I'm so used to wearing a skirt."

"I'm afraid I don't have any of those," Tails admitted. "My mom would, but they wouldn't fit you."

"I wouldn't want to wear your mother's clothes," Cosmo said. "I don't have the right."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Tails said, although he knew there was a very good chance she would. His parents hadn't liked the idea of him being in love with an alien plant creature. What would they say when they came back and found her with him? Well, he'd worry about that when it happened.

Cosmo walked across the room. Zoo-zup! Zoo-zup! Zoo-zup! "Uh…it sounds like these things are trying to tell me something, only I can't understand what they're saying!"

Tails sweat dropped. "Uh, yeah, they do that. Um…maybe you'd like to try something else instead?"

Cosmo looked around, then finally picked up a pair of white bicycle shorts. "What about these?"

"That would be better," he said. "Those pants are awfully noisy."

"Yes, they're very colorful, but they draw attention to themselves and their wearer. I prefer to blend into a crowd."

"Me too," Tails said. He dug through the bottom of his closet. Still no flip-flops.

"Better?" Cosmo asked. She'd changed into the bike shorts.

"Much better," Tails said. "You have pretty legs." D'oh! Had he really just said that?!

"Uh, thanks," Cosmo said, blushing. "So…what do we do now?" Cosmo asked. "I mean…the last time I wasn't worrying about fighting someone, I was with my family. I'm not really sure what to do now that the Metarex are gone."

"Well, Sonic and I were going over to Cream's house later today," Tails said, getting up off the floor. "Amy will be there. I can have Knuckles and the Chaotix go over there too. We can have a big reunion!"

"That sounds nice," Cosmo said. "It will be good to see everybody again. But…what about you and me, Tails?"

"Huh?" Tails said. He'd just started to leave the room to look for those flip-flops.

"We met in war time," Cosmo pointed out. "I was so driven by vengeance, I often didn't pay too much attention to anything else. We need to get to know each other in peace time now. I mean, I don't even know what your interests are outside of inventing."

"Well," Tails said, leaning against his doorway. "I like flying, chili dogs, mint candy, and beautiful plant girls with eyes blue eyes I'd like to swim in."

Cosmo stared at him. "You want to swim in my eyes?!"

Tails sputtered, holding up his hands. "No! That's not what I meant! I mean, your eyes are like pools of blue water, and when the light hits them, they sparkle."

Cosmo blushed. "Oh! You were being romantic! I'm sorry. I'm not very quick to catch on to things. Please excuse me!"

"No, I should have explained what I was saying," Tails said quickly. "I'm sorry. You speak our language so well, I keep forgetting it's not your native tongue."

"The ship I stole from the Metarex had tapes that allowed me to learn your language," Cosmo explained. "I should have wondered why, but all I could think of was escaping and getting revenge. I guess they wanted me to understand what you were saying. I wouldn't have been a very effective spy otherwise."

"You were never a spy," Tails assured her. "Not really. You didn't have any say in the matter."

"That doesn't change the trouble I caused," Cosmo said sadly. Tails crossed the room, cupped her chin in his hand.

"Don't do this to yourself," he said. "It's just like you told me, we did things we had to do. You couldn't have stopped sending messages to the Metarex, any more than I could have chosen not do what I had to do in order to stop Dark Oak."

Cosmo hugged him. "I thought when I came back that everything would be wonderful," she said softly. "That our lives would be like one of Cream's fairy tales. But I can see that we both have a lot to sort through before we can be really happy." She looked into his eyes. "Let's make a promise right now. Let's promise we won't let anything ruin our time together. That we'll help each other through every problem that comes up in the future."

"I promise," Tails said.  
"As do I," Cosmo said. "Oh. You shared your interests with me, but I didn't do the same. How rude of me. Let me see…you know I love to look at the stars of course. And that I daydream. I like to make up stories, but most people think they're too silly, so I rarely tell any of them."

"I wouldn't think anything you said was silly," Tails said.

Cosmo giggled. "I don't know. I can be pretty silly when I put my mind to it. Oh, you know I'm afraid of fire and lightning, right?"

"Me too," Tails admitted. "And earthquakes. And…"

"And what?" Cosmo asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I…I've always been scared of…ghosts," Tails admitted.

"Why didn't you want to tell me that?" Cosmo asked. Then her eyes widened. "Oh, Tails. You don't think I'm a ghost, do you?"

"No," Tails said. "And even when you were, I wasn't afraid of you. I just…I was afraid it would bother you if I mentioned it. Since…since you were…"

"Shh," she said, placing a finger to his lips. "Don't try to force yourself to say something that bothers you. Let's just take this one step at a time." She stepped away from him, then bowed. "Hello. I am Cosmo."

"Uh…Miles," Tails said, bowing. "Miles Prower. But you can call me Tails."

"Hello, Tails," Cosmo said, smiling. "This is a very nice place you have here."

"I'm so sorry it's such a mess," Tails said. "I've had a lot on my mind lately. I should clean this. Please excuse me."

"Here, let me help you," Cosmo said.

"You don't really have to," Tails told her, picking up food wrappers.

"No, I should get used to cleaning up after you," Cosmo insisted, crawling under his dresser to get some popsicle sticks. "I mean, not that I expect to need to clean up after you. I'm not saying you're a messy person or anything like that! It's just that, well, when we get mar…uh…uh…never mind!" She tried to stand up, and banged her head against the dresser. "Ouch!" She rubbed her head.

"Oh no!" Tails cried, dropping the mess he'd picked up on his bed and kneeling beside her. "Are you okay?" He ran his fingers through her hair.

"You have such a soft, gentle touch," she said.

"I know," Tails said, embarrassed. "I'm such a sissy."

"A what?" Cosmo asked. "I don't understand what that is."

"I mean, I'm not a very masculine person," Tails said. "I'm not cool like Sonic, or tough like Knuckles. I don't even like sports all that much unless I'm playing."

"From what I've heard about sports, I don't think I like them," Cosmo said, picking up the mess under the dresser again. "Too competitive. Competition can lead to arguments, which can lead to fighting. I'll gladly lose if it means keeping the peace."

"Well, a little competition can be helpful to a person," Tails said. "But it's okay not to like it."

****

Sonic had finally left the video store, after spending far too much time trying to make up his mind. Before seeing Tails, he decided to stop at his uncle Chuck's hot dog stand.

"Ah, Sonic!" Uncle Chuck called. "You're just in time to try my new bacon and egg chili dog!"

"Sounds good, Unc!" Sonic said. "Lay one on me! Heck, lay a dozen on me!"

The old hedgehog gave Sonic three of his new experiments. Sonic tried one. "I think you've definitely got something there, Unc!"

"Good, good," Uncle Chuck said. "So, how's Tails?"

"Much better," Sonic said through a mouthful of bacon, egg, and sausage. "In fact, we're going to have a little party because of it."

"That's very good news," Uncle Chuck said. "Oh, has he heard from his uncle? Merlin was keeping in touch with me, but lately I've received no word from him."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be fine," Sonic said, finishing. "He's pretty powerful. Not too many guys can stand up to the old wizard."

"True, true," Uncle Chuck agreed. "I remember once when we were trapped in a dungeon with the walls closing in on us. My sword was useless. Merlin caused the ground to form a sort of wave that threw us to safety. When I look at you and Tails, I can see Merlin and myself, young again."

"So what happened between you two?" Sonic asked. "I mean, you don't seem very close."

Chuck's eyes grew distant. "There was a girl. We both loved her. I suppose our friendship never truly recovered from that rivalry."

Sonic stared at his uncle. "But…neither of you are married," he said. He'd never heard this story before.

"No, neither of us ever did," Chuck agreed. "She died before making her decision."

Sonic gasped. "Oh, hey, I'm really sorry," he said. "I didn't want to bring up any bad memories."

"No, it's quite all right," Uncle Chuck assured him. "But you can never tell when something might happen to someone you care about. Look at Tails."

Sonic looked away. "You're suggesting I go talk to Amy, aren't you?"

"No," his uncle said, clasping his shoulder. "I'm saying you should take a good look at your life, decide what you truly want, and let nothing keep you from getting it."

"You're right, Unc!" Sonic said, giving the older hedgehog a thumbs-up. "See ya! I gotta juice!" Sonic sped off in a cloud of dust.

****

Many miles away, an old fox lay motionless amongst smoking metal. What resembled a smashed in head began to make a beeping sound. Far off in space, the signal was picked up by a large machine on a ship. A figure in red noticed the beeping. "So, the time has come," he said. He called out orders. "Prepare the ship for warp speed! The coordinates are already on the computer. I want us in orbit around the planet Mobius as quickly as possible! Failure to obey will not be tolerated!"

And so Red Pine began his voyage to Sonic's world.

****

Tails and Cosmo soon had a large pile of trash on Tails' bed. "I'll get a trash bag," he said, racing off. He ran into his kitchen and started looking for bags. No. Not there either. He ran to his workshop. Ah! Here were some in this bin. He took a couple, then hurried back. As he approached his room, he had a sudden fear that he'd get there, and she would be gone, vanished like she had in his dreams. But she was looking at his stereo equipment. It occurred to him that he rarely played it. Well, no better time than the present.

"Um…would you…like to dance?" he asked, embarrassed that his voice squeaked.

"Uh…I don't know any Mobian dance styles," Cosmo admitted. "Amy tried to teach me a couple of times, but I wasn't really paying too much attention. I was too busy brooding."

"No more brooding, remember?" Tails said, turning on his stereo. Slow music came on. He bowed. "May I have this dance, my dear?"

Cosmo curtsied. "I would be delighted, good sir!"

"Did you dance much on your ship?" Tails asked, taking her hands.

"Sometimes," Cosmo said. "And sometimes we danced by ourselves. Well, I did, anyway. Of course, some people thought I was strange."

"Me too," Tails said. "But then, people were always saying I was weird."

Cosmo sighed. "Two poor little misfits, lost in space, finding each other."

"Now that's romantic," Tails said. He suddenly realized he didn't know what he was doing. He really only knew rock and pop, music that you didn't dance to so much as wiggle. Plus, without his gloves, he realized to his embarrassment that his hands were wet and sticky in hers.

"I guess we're both romantics," Cosmo said. "That's good, right?"

"Sure," Tails assured her, "I think it's wonderful." He lost track of where he was putting his feet, and suddenly stepped on Cosmo's foot.

"Ow!" she cried.

"Oh no!" Tails gasped. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm clumsier than I thought!"

"I'm okay," Cosmo assured him. "But I don't think we're doing this right. I'm afraid that we're both going to need dancing lessons." That was when she stepped on his foot.

"Ow!" Tails said.

"I'm so sorry!" Cosmo cried. "Maybe we should stop before we hurt each other!"

"Well, we could sit on the bed and listen to the music," Tails suggested.

"Good idea," Cosmo said. "At least I know how to sit!"

"Sorry about the sweaty hands," Tails said, rubbing his hands against his shirt. "That's why I usually wear gloves."

"Oh," Cosmo said. "Is that why Amy and Cream and Sonic and…well, just about everybody I knew except Chris wore gloves?"

"Well, it's why I do," Tails admitted. "I don't know about everybody else. I just assumed it was a fashion choice, and it covered up my problem, so I went along with it without questioning it."

"Oh," Cosmo said. "I've just gone along with a lot that I couldn't understand. Like the fact that Sonic and Knuckles are good friends, but are unable to admit it. That still doesn't explain why they like to fight each other." She sighed. "But the way I helped Cream and Amy attack him, and then joined everyone in attacking Charmy and Espio and Vector, I shouldn't talk. With the detectives, I suppose I was scared because Sonic and Knuckles weren't there. But attacking Knuckles like that, I still can't figure out."

"Um…well, you were pretty driven to stop the Metarex," Tails pointed out.

Cosmo shook her head, pouting. "No! No, I wasn't just driven. I was completely obsessed. A side of me came out during that war, Tails. A side I didn't know I had. She's ugly and scary, and I don't want to let her out again."

"We all have a side we don't like," Tails assured her. "I've treated Sonic and Knuckles and Amy and Chris and even Cream terrible. I knew better, but it didn't stop me. Don't worry, Cosmo. It doesn't make you a bad person."

"I sure hope so," Cosmo said. "You know, I've never been in your home before. I was on this planet for such a short time. Didn't pay much attention to it. I've been thinking, and I can't even really remember what Cream's house looks like."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to get used to this planet now," Tails assured her. "And I'm looking forward to every minute of it."

"I'm looking forward to it as well," Cosmo said. Impulsively, she suddenly reached out and felt his mustache. She pulled her hand away. "Sorry! I…um…I was just wondering what it felt like."

"That's okay," Tails said. "I can see it being strange to you. It's kind of ticklish." He realized he'd run out of small talk. What else could he say to her? "Are you ticklish anyplace?" Dah! What had he gone and said that for?!?

To his surprise, Cosmo said, "Well…yes, I am."

"Oh?" Tails said. "Where?" This sounded interesting.

"Uh…I don't think I want to tell you," Cosmo said playfully, moving away from him.

"Really?" Tails said, suddenly very curious. "Should I guess?"

"Well, if you'd like," Cosmo said, slowly stepping off the couch. "But, um…you'll have to catch me first!" She ran from the room, leaving Tails very confused for a moment. Then he heard her giggle.

"Idiot!" he told himself, jumping up and running after her. "Stop being such a dweeb!" He chased her down the hall into the living room. She was standing in front of his couch.

"Over here, Tails!" she called, motioning to him. As Tails jumped towards her, she leaped straight up in the air. He landed on the couch, flipped over, and fell on the floor. "Oh no!" she cried. "Are you okay?" She moved closer to him.

"Gotcha!" Tails cried, throwing his arms around her. "Now I just have to know, where are you ticklish?"

Cosmo wriggled free. "That's for me to know and for you to find out!" she cried, running back into the hall. He found her crouched on top of his righting desk. "Yoo hoo! Over here, Tails!"

Tails leaped into the air. Again, Cosmo jumped over him. He slid across the desk into his book case. "I'm okay!" he assured her Then he noticed the book case begin to rock. He heard Cosmo scream as it came crashing down on him.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter Two: First Kiss

Sorry this chapter is so late. I'll do my best to update much more often in the future.

After the Metarex: Tails' and Cosmo's Story Part One

Chapter Two

"First Kiss"

"No!" Cosmo screamed, reaching out for him. "Look out, Tails!" The bookcase came plummeting towards Tails' head. He threw his hands in front of his face.

The floorboards shook suddenly, and then burst open. Huge tree roots shot up around Tails, catching the bookcase just inches from his head. A few books hit him, but they didn't affect him anywhere near as much as the means by which he had been saved did.

"C-Cosmo?" Tails cried. "Did-did you do that?!?"

"I…I guess so!" Cosmo said. She looked at her hands. "I…I don't know what I did! I just knew I had to save you somehow, and…and…"

"It's okay," Tails said, carefully weaving his way out from between the roots. He pushed the bookcase back against the wall. It struck with a loud bang, started to bounce back again. The rest of his books fell to the floor. He pushed again, finally getting it to stay in place. He examined one of the roots. "I remember you did this once before," Tails pointed out.

"Yes, but I was holding a planet egg at the time," Cosmo pointed out. "And I couldn't control it. The roots grabbed our enemies, but they grabbed us too!"

"Can you send them back?" Tails asked.  
Cosmo blinked. "Huh? Oh! You want them out of your house! Of course!" She concentrated. Then she gestured again. Then she shut her eyes tightly and strained.

Nothing. The roots apparently weren't going anywhere.

"I'm sorry," she said at last, shrugging helplessly. "I…I don't have the slightest idea how to get rid of them, Tails!"

"That's okay," he assured her, looking at the holes in his floor. Well, that was a small price to pay for getting the girl of his dreams back. But these new powers worried him. Dark Oak had had that kind of power. Had she somehow absorbed some of his abilities when they were merged? It was a disturbing thought. What else might she have gotten from him?

Her next words made him a little less worried. "Tails? I remember my mother telling me I had powers I could develop. So did Sonic. And you too, I believe. It's difficult to remember what she said."

"Maybe you should write down everything you can recall now," Tails said. "I can get you a computer." He looked her over. What was different about her? Not just the fact that she was wearing his clothes.

"Cosmo?" he asked. "Where's your amulet?"

Cosmo looked down at herself. "It shattered," she said in a small voice. "When I decided to help you and Sonic. I used its power to transform. I suppose it was something like a chaos emerald or a planet egg."

"I wish I'd thought to analyze it," Tails said. "It must have been very powerful. But you never took it off the whole time I knew you. You said you needed it for some reason, but you never really explained why."

Cosmo looked away. "Um…my sisters told me to never go without it," she admitted, looking at the roots still sticking up out of his floor. She tried again to make them recede. Once again, nothing happened. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do to make it work. Were there muscles she was supposed to constrict? She suspected that would just give her a headache, and decided not to experiment.

"So it was a family heirloom?" Tails asked. "I can see why it was important to you, but you always acted like you couldn't set it down for a second."

His words brought her out of her rumination. "Oh, well, I was told never to let it out of my sight."

"You were afraid someone would steal it?" Tails asked, sounding hurt.

"No!" Cosmo assured him. "I would never think that you or any of your friends would take it from me! It's just…" She sighed and looked down at her feet.

Tails placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Cosmo. You can tell me anything."

Cosmo sighed. "There's a chance, a small one, mind you, but a possibility that, without an amulet, a Seedrian might…"

"Might what?" Tails asked, suddenly terrified. "Cosmo! Is that why you turned into a tree? Because you didn't have it anymore? I thought it gave you the power to change! Are you--are you saying it was keeping it from happening?" Eggman had suggested something like that, but he'd convinced himself the mad man was lying. Had he been correct after all?

Cosmo bit her lower lip. "It normally happens only to the very old or the very infirm," she said quietly. "But during the war, Lucas found a way to turn his soldiers into great dragon-like beasts. Not the same transformation and it wasn't permanent. But sometimes the soldiers died in that form. And…and it didn't only affect the soldiers. A few noncombatants also became beasts. At least one was female. It may have had something to do with his experiments with our world's planet egg. Mother decided all Seedrians needed to wear special crystals, amulets that prevented either change."

"So…so now that you don't have one…" Tails couldn't finish the thought. He put his arms around her. "No! No, I won't let you leave me again!"

"It's all right, Tails," Cosmo assured him, hugging him back. "I feel fine. And maybe nothing will happen. But…but I could never do that…" she pointed at the vines, still sticking out from the floor, "…before. So maybe my crystal was…I don't know…blocking my powers somehow?"

"I…could run some tests," Tails offered, although he was terrified at the thought of what he might discover. If she started to turn into a tree again, or some kind of dragon… "Where did those crystals for your amulets come from?" he asked her. "Do you think there could be more on your home planet?"

Cosmo considered this a moment, then shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry. I was a child on a ship of adults. They told me what they felt I needed to know. In time, I'm sure they would have told me everything, but…" And suddenly, their faces came to her. Galaxina, Sunflower, Nova, Starla, her Mother. Saying good-bye before they sent her back. Cosmo turned away, not wanting Tails to see her cry.

"Cosmo?" Tails said, leaning his head to the side. "What's wrong? Please tell me!"

"I'm sorry," Cosmo said, shaking her head. "I just…really miss my family. Destroying Dark Oak didn't bring any of them back. It's actually amazing if you think about it that I'm here."

"I don't want to think about that," Tails said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Cosmo. I'd bring them back to you if I could."

Cosmo patted his hand. "I know you would. Don't mind me. I may get like this now and then. Please don't let it bother you."

"But seeing you unhappy does bother me," Tails insisted. "I want to see you happy."

Cosmo nodded. "I want to be happy. They didn't send me back to cry." She struggled to think of a way to change the subject. "So…if you start developing new powers, what sort do you think they might be?"

"Uh…possibly wind related," Tails said. "I mean, if you really think about it, spinning my tails shouldn't make me able to fly. It's against the laws of physics. Technically speaking, even if my tails were creating a strong enough lift, it should just cause me to spin around and around in circles. I mean, they're hardly the same as a helicopter's rotors, they don't connect to my spine in that way. And they're hardly like the wings of a dragonfly either…"

"Uh…that's fascinating," Cosmo said, trying to follow him. "If your flight ability isn't natural, then it's a mutation? Something like the forced transformations Lucas' soldiers went through?"

"Most likely," Tails said. "Of course, Amy has suggested I might be some sort of supernatural entity," he added with a laugh. He took her hand, and led her out of his study, closing the door behind them. "Supposedly, I'll eventually grow seven more tails and become snow white, and pick up supernatural abilities. But I think she's getting a bit too far into mysticism."

"Don't mock the unknown," Cosmo warned him as they entered his living room. She looked around at the easy chair, loveseat, couch, fireplace, and tv stand. She wanted to memorize every bit of his home. Someday, she hoped it would be hers as well. "My people have always held beliefs in things that can't be seen or measured. The chaos emeralds and planet eggs show that mystical objects really do exist."

"I'm sorry," Tails said, motioning for her to sit down on the couch. She did, and he sat down beside her. "I've seen plenty of evidence of magic. It's just that I'm a scientist. We have a difficult time accepting anything at face value. We want to know how and why everything is the way it is."

Cosmo nodded. "Yes, I can understand that. But there are some things we weren't meant to know. If Lucas had left our planet egg alone, perhaps none of this would have ever happened." She shut her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. "If we had left Greengate, perhaps come here…"

"We might have grown up together," Tails said, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder. He stopped a couple of inches away, afraid to finish that action. "Maybe I would have carried your books home from school."

"School," Cosmo said. "I didn't have a school. My sisters taught me what they felt I needed to know when they thought it was best that I know it."

"Same here," Tails said, finally placing his hand on the back of the couch in defeat. "Sonic taught me how to steer clear of Eggman's attacks. Knuckles gave me some lessons on fighting. Rotor taught me how to take engines apart. Oh, that's right. You've never met Rotor, have you?"

"No," Cosmo said, opening her eyes and looking into his own. "He was sort of a father figure to you, wasn't he? Because your own father wasn't around. Or your mother. It must have been very difficult for you." She smiled sadly at him. "My mother was there, but she rarely spoke to me. And she couldn't take me in her arms and hold me."

"I'm sorry," Tails said, suddenly realizing that his hand had moved to her shoulder on its own. He stared at it as if he had never seen it before. Then, to his embarrassment, he noticed Cosmo's eyes move to her shoulder. He pulled his hand away. "S-sorry!"

"For what?" Cosmo asked. "Touching my shoulder? Why would you apologize for that?"

"Well, I…" Tails felt his face grow warm. "I shouldn't have done it without asking."

"Oh," Cosmo said. She looked at him, as if she were waiting for him to say something.

"Uh…do you have a question?" Tails asked nervously.

Cosmo giggled. "Don't you have a question?" she asked playfully. When she saw he looked confused, she said, "Weren't you going to ask?"

Now Tails was really confused. "Ask? Uh…what was I going to ask y…" Then a little light seemed to go on. "Oh! You…you mean, ask if I could…may I…place my hand on your…shoulder?"

Cosmo giggled. "You may."

Tails placed his hand back on her shoulder.

They sat in silence for awhile, then Cosmo finally said, "Tails? You remember when you last saw me…on the Blue Typhoon…"

"I will never forget that!" Tails assured her. "I thought…I thought you were okay. Then I realized I could see right through you, and…" He made a face. "Like I said, I've always been afraid of ghosts, but…but I wasn't afraid of you."  
"And you remember…what I did?" Cosmo asked, her face now flushing.

"You kissed me," Tails said hoarsely. He cleared his throat. "I didn't imagine it!"

"No, that was me," Cosmo said. "I'd never kissed a boy before."  
"I'd never kissed a girl," Tails said. "Rouge kissed me once during a tournament on Earth so she could beat me, but I never liked her."

Cosmo sighed. "Our first kiss…and…I'm sorry, Tails. I couldn't feel anything."

Tails felt like crying again. "I didn't either," he admitted. "I wish I could say it felt wonderful, but…but…"

Cosmo placed her finger on his lips. "It's okay." She looked away nervously. "We…we could…t-try it again. I mean, if-if you want."

"I'd love to!" Tails cried. He made a face. Had he really just said that out loud? "I…I mean, if…if _you _want to, Cosmo. I…I don't want to pressure you or anything!"

"Well…I guess we could try it," Cosmo said, "if-if it's okay." She shut her eyes and leaned forward. Tails shut his eyes and leaned forward too.

Their heads made a dull clunking sound as they struck together.

"Ow!" Cosmo cried, rubbing her head.

"Ouch!" Tails said. "Sorry!" _Man, I'm lame!_

"Maybe we should try that with our eyes open?" Cosmo suggested.

"Yeah, good idea," Tails said. _You can build a spaceship, but you can't kiss a girl without hitting her upside the head? Bravo, Tails!_

Cosmo leaned forward, turning her head to the side a little. Their lips met. Tails wanted the moment to last forever, but suddenly Cosmo was pulling away, blushing furiously.

"That was…very nice," Cosmo said, looking away from him.

"Yeah, it sure was," Tails agreed, his face feeling hot. Was he blushing as much as she was?

"Yes," Cosmo said. "I think…" she was interrupted by her stomach growling.

"Oh!" Tails cried, jumping up and turning towards the kitchen. "What's wrong with me? You must be starving after…all this time."

"I was getting nutrients from the soil all this time," Cosmo said. "But that's over now that I broke my navel cord."

Tails blinked. "Uh…yeah," he said. Later, he'd ask her exactly what she meant, but right then, it sounded a bit too weird to him. "I'll get you something to eat."

"Uh…you don't have to go to any trouble," Cosmo called after him. But she had learned on the Blue Typhoon that Tails could tune out everything around him when he had a goal. And making Cosmo happy was now his goal.

Unfortunately, Tails quickly found that finding her something to eat was easier said than done. A partial box of cereal. A nearly empty tin of tea bags. One can of chili. He opened the refrigerator. Besides a package he couldn't identify, all he could find was one of Cream's little cakes. He poured her a bowl of cereal, then started making some tea. Chili would be bad for an empty stomach, he was sure. He didn't want her to remember her first day back by getting sick and throwing up in his living room. "Uh…just a moment, please!" Tails called. When he didn't hear any reply, he quickly looked back into the living room. Still there. She hadn't disappeared the moment he'd turned his eyes away from her.

"Got to stop this," he muttered, pouring two cups of tea. "She's not going to vanish on me." Deep down, another thought came to him. What if this really was a second Metal Cosmo? No! No, he couldn't deal with that. But robots couldn't eat, could they? Well, Bokkun did, but he appeared to be a roboticized Mobian, of what species Tails couldn't even guess.

"Here you go!" Tails said, bringing the cereal, cake, and tea cups into the living room on a tray.

"Oh, Tails, you didn't have to go through that much trouble," Cosmo told him.

"It wasn't any trouble," Tails assured her, setting the tray down on his coffee table. "Hope you like chamomile tea. I've been using it to help me sleep."

"Oh," Cosmo said, picking up the cup and looking at it. "You've been having difficulty sleeping. I'm sorry." She looked up into his eyes. "But you're going to be okay now, right?"

"Of course," Tails said, sitting beside her. "And you? You're going to be okay?"

"Yes, I think so," Cosmo said, taking a sip of her tea. "I know my family wants me to be happy. I've spent too much of my life crying. Time to laugh again. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Uh…okay," Tails said. This new Cosmo was going to take some getting used to. He'd always wondered what she had been like before her people had been killed. When Espio used Knuckles as a puppet to threaten her, she'd thought the echidna had been playing a practical joke and laughed. Hadn't she said once that she had a sister who had liked to pull pranks on people?

His thoughts were interrupted by a consistent crunching sound. He blushed. Why didn't he have milk for Cosmo's cereal? He'd have to start paying attention to what he was doing again. Well, now that she was back, his problems were over, right?

Cosmo put down her spoon. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm trying to eat as quietly as I can. I hope I'm not being too noisy."

"It's fine," Tails said. "I'm sorry. I should go shopping, but I don't want to leave you."

Cosmo smiled. "I could go with you. I'd love to see more of your world."

"Do you feel up to it?" he asked.

Cosmo nodded. "I think I need to exercise my legs. They were a bit wobbly when I first came back to life." She made a face. "Sorry. I think it's becoming a habit."

"That's okay," Tails assured her.

Cosmo started eating again. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. "Sounds kind of funny, doesn't it?" she asked.

"No," Tails said shaking his head, even though it did, sort of. He sat back and watched her eat. This wasn't quite the reunion he'd expected. Fainting in front of her, knocking over a bookcase on his head, giving her dry cereal to eat. So much for all the big romantic plans he'd made up. But she was back, and she was happy. That was all that mattered.

To his surprise, Cosmo suddenly poured a little of her tea into her cereal. She tried it. "Not bad," she said. "May I have more tea, please?"

"Uh, sure," Tails said, handing her his cup. "Here. I haven't touched it. I'll make myself some more."

Cosmo looked as if she was about to ask him not to go to so much trouble. Then she just smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

As Tails went back to the kitchen, Cosmo decided she wanted a glass of water. But he'd done so much for her already. She didn't want to keep asking for favors. She got up and started towards the kitchen. No, he'd probably feel bad that he hadn't thought to get her water in the first place. She decided to get it from his bathroom.

****

Merlin picked himself up off the ground. He looked at the wreckage of his battle. "I have to tell Miles about this!" His hands shook as he picked up his cane. He was exhausted from his fight with the Metarex. Walking to his nephew's house was out of the question, let alone trying chaos control. In his weakened state, that would probably kill him. Then he heard nervous chirping. Flickies? He headed towards the sound. Miles had always had a connection with the birds, much like his friend Cream's connection with the chao. Perhaps he could get one of them to take him a message. He winced as a pain struck his back. He cursed the years that had reduced him to this. Once, he could have blasted the Metarex with a thunderbolt, then teleported away without a second thought.

The birds were clearly agitated. No doubt this was their home, and the sounds of the battle had terrified them. They leaped away nervously from the old fox.

"Please, my little friends, I need your help," Merlin begged. He whistled. Long ago, he had impressed a girl with his bird calls. A girl he would not see again, but would never forget. At last, one little flicky cautiously came over to him. He reached into his robe and found paper and an old fountain pen. A further search uncovered a broken bottle of ink. No doubt the interior of his pocket was ruined now, but that didn't matter now. What was important was that there was enough ink remaining to write a message. He fastened the note to the bird's leg.

"I need you to take this to my nephew," he said slowly and softly, gently patting the bird's head. "Miles. Or Tails he may be known as. He's like me, but has two tails?"

The flicky nodded, then flew away. The old wizard sank to his knees.

"Just a few minutes…" he told himself. "A few minutes rest…then I must…be on my way…warn…Miles…about the…"

He slumped to the ground. The other flickies danced nervously away from him.

****

Cosmo passed the bedrooms she'd already looked in and opened the next door. This led to a room filled with candles. Pictures of her were everywhere, surrounded by black borders. "Oh no…" she whispered, suddenly remembering she'd known about this room before. This was the shrine Tails had set up. A shrine to her memory. Yes, she'd heard him praying to her and realized he was in this room. And as unfamiliar as Cosmo was with Mobian culture, she could tell this was unhealthy.

"If I hadn't come back, would he have kept doing this up the rest of his life?" she wondered, noticing the candles had been partly burned. "How sad!"

Cosmo crossed the room slowly, not wanting to make any sound. She wasn't sure why she was doing this. After all, it was a shrine to her, and she was alive. Perhaps she was honoring her former life. She looked at her hands. "I'm still the same person, aren't I?"

Cosmo stopped when she noticed the group picture from the party on the Blue Typhoon. For some reason, she had seen it at the end, when she was dying. She picked it up and looked at it. She looked depressed, even though she was at a party.

Tails, returning to find Cosmo gone, had desperately searched the house for her. He stopped in the doorway, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. "Oh!" he cried. "You…I didn't think…"

Cosmo jumped at the sound of his voice, dropping the picture. Tails made a grab for it, but missed. The picture hit the floor, making a loud noise as the glass shattered.

"Oh, no, Tails!" Cosmo cried, bending over to pick up the picture. "I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's okay," Tails told her. "I can replace the broken glass easily. Besides, I don't need it anymore. Be careful you don't…"

"Ow!" Cosmo cried, pulling her hand away from the picture. She grabbed her right hand with her left, making a face.

"Cosmo!" Tails cried. "Oh no! Are you hurt? Let me see!"

"It's nothing," Cosmo said, looking at her hand. A thin stream of greenish fluid ran across her palm. "Doesn't even hurt, really."

"You're bleeding, so it's not nothing," Tails insisted. "Come on, I'll put something on it."

He led her into his bathroom, opened his medicine cabinet, and took out some bandages and peroxide. He shut the cabinet, then lifted her up onto the sink. "Let me see."

Cosmo held up her hand. "It's no different than that paper cut Cream got once," Cosmo insisted.

Tails shook his head. "Better safe than sorry, isn't that what you told me in that cave?" He started to treat her cut. Cosmo made a soft hissing sound. "Sorry. Stings a little, huh?"

"Not that bad," Cosmo said, watching him bandage her hand. "You do that so much better than I did that day, Tails. Have you ever thought of being a doctor?"

"Well, my talents are really more in mechanics," Tails told her. "There. All better."

"Thank you," Cosmo said. "I'm so clumsy."

"Don't start putting yourself down again, Cosmo," Tails begged her, helping her down from the sink.

"I won't," Cosmo promised. "My hand feels much better."

"Great," Tails said. "Uh…about that room…"

"Cosmo placed her hand over his heart. "You don't need it anymore, Tails. Promise me you'll take everything down soon."

"I will," Tails promised. "I'll put everything away. Just…just give me a little time, okay?" He took her hand in his.  
"Sure," Cosmo said. "I'll help you pack up the pictures when you're ready."

"Thanks," Tails said. "Maybe tomorrow."

Cosmo nodded. "Actually, I'll stay with you, but I think you should put everything away yourself."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Tails said. He looked at her hand. "I'm so sorry you got hurt when you just came back."

"It's okay," Cosmo assured him, waving her hand. "Feels fine. I'm a lot tougher than I look." It was only once they were back in the living room that Cosmo realized she'd forgotten to get a drink.

****

Sonic looked through the movies on the shelves of the video store. "Okay, horror movies are just plain out. Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, all dead guys coming back." He sighed. Tails would probably never want to watch any of those films again. "Comedies are always good. And a cartoon for Cream. And I guess I should get Amy a click flick." He thought about Amy. Sure, she drove him right up the wall sometimes, but she was always completely loyal to him, even when everyone else, including Tails, had thought he'd lost it. Still, he couldn't forget Sally. He'd always thought the two of them were meant for each other. He was the knight in shining armor. He saved the princess from the evil baron. It was a fairy tale ending. What had gone wrong?

"Well, I'd better pick up some snacks and get going," he decided. "If I'm too late, Amy will be after me with her hammer." Yeah. Those hammers. Maybe that was the real problem. What the heck were they? Where did they come from? Even Amy didn't know. And that scared him. He looked at his hands. Thought about the power he'd felt when he was Super Sonic. It was exhilarating. But then he remembered that one time, when Black Narcissus had captured Chris and Cosmo. Had injured Chris. Sonic had seen red. Had lost control. He remembered laughing angrily at Narcissus. Wanting to destroy him. Then Eggman, of all people, talking him down. He hadn't felt thrilled at the time. Hadn't really felt much except anger and hatred. But he had reveled in the power he'd felt. And Cosmo…worried that she either had no powers at all, or else that she couldn't control them. In the end, she'd transformed into a being that had gotten through Dark Oak's gravity shield as if it hadn't been there. Even though he and Shadow, both transformed, had been unable to penetrate it.

"I really do have to figure out how my powers work exactly," Sonic decided, leaving the video store. "But not today. Today is a day of celebration! My little buddy has finally come home!"

Forcing the dark thoughts away, Sonic ran to get some snacks. Then he could always grab a couple of chili dogs from Uncle Chuck. With his speed, a couple of short stops wouldn't amount to any time at all.

****

"You're probably wondering why I was snooping through your house," Cosmo said, starting to sit back down, then thinking better of it.

"I didn't think you were snooping," Tails said quickly. "My house is yours. Feel free to go anywhere."

"Thank you," Cosmo said, "but I shouldn't be imposing on you. In fact, that's why I was looking through your house. I wanted a drink of water, and I didn't want to bother you for it. Now I've cut myself and worried you." She smiled ruefully. "Guess you'll just have to get used to me doing this sort of thing, huh?"

"You should never think you're a bother to me," Tails insisted."I love you. I've never…felt this way about a girl before." He wasn't about to mention Fiona. But he didn't have to.

"What about that girl that hurt you?" Cosmo asked. "The one that locked you in the trunk. I'm not sure why, but I remember that, maybe because I came down here and spoke to Cream about you." She didn't finish. Didn't tell him that she almost got into terrible trouble for doing that. But Tails would have died that day if she hadn't. She wouldn't mention it, but she wouldn't regret it either.

"I'm completely over Fiona," Tails assured her. "I never did like her as much as I like you." He mulled over what she'd just said. "So Cream really did speak to you," he said. "And the…séance? Where you…"

Cosmo made a face. "That I also remember," she admitted. "It felt so weird! Like…like Cream was a…a suit of clothing I was trying on." She gasped. "Oh! Please don't tell her I compared her to something like that!"

"Don't worry, I won't," Tails assured her. He didn't want to think about it. Weird had been an understatement. And Cream didn't remember it. Best to just let that event be forgotten.

"Sorry," Tails said, eager to change the subject. "Anyway, the moment I first laid eyes on you in that field, I knew I wanted to get to know you better. And that still hasn't changed."

"Um. Thank you," Cosmo said, blushing. "You were the first boy I'd ever seen. Oh, the Metarex were males, but I never thought of them as people. But you…you both frightened and fascinated me." She looked down at her feet. "Maybe…maybe I jumped out of your plane that first day because…because I was nervous about being alone with a boy. I…I only knew what my sisters told me about them. And they weren't too happy with males."

"Well, they had good reason," Tails said.

"Yeah," Cosmo said. She looked away. "Tails? You and your father? Are you close? Do you love him?"

"Well, yeah, sure," Tails said, wondering what had suddenly made her think to ask that. "I mean, sometimes we don't get along so well, sometimes he's kind of scary, but yeah, I do."

"A person should love their father, shouldn't they?" Cosmo asked.

"Well, yeah, they should," Tails agreed, wondering where she was going.

Cosmo nervously dug her toes into the carpet. "If a person…hated their father…would that make them bad, Tails?"

Tails placed his hands on her shoulders. "I guess it would depend on why they hated their father."

"And…if they had good reason…?" Cosmo went on.

"I'd feel sorry for someone like that," Tails said, "but I wouldn't think they were bad. It wouldn't have been their fault if their father was no good." He led her into the kitchen and finally got her a glass of water.

Cosmo thanked him, took a drink, then started to walk back to the living room. "But…but if their father was bad…but they didn't want to hate them…would they be in the wrong?"

"Everybody wants to believe their parents are good people," Tails said. "Cosmo? Why are you asking me these questions?" Then he thought about it, and decided to change the subject again. He tried to think of something to talk about. The weather? Good grief, no!

"Oh! I should call everybody and tell them you're back!" he said, feeling like an idiot for not thinking of that before. But then, a part of him didn't want anyone else knowing yet. This was a special time for just the two of them. He didn't want it spoiled with Amy chasing Sonic, and Knuckles flirting with Rouge, and Cream…He gasped. How would Cream react to Cosmo being back?!? They had been so close when they were traveling through space together. Like sisters. He hoped Cream's infatuation for him didn't turn them into enemies. He didn't want to ruin their friendship.

****

"There!" Amy said, as she and Cream finished setting up the streamers and banners they'd made. "Pretty good, if I do say so myself!"

"I think so too," Amy," Cream agreed, looking at the banner that read "WE LOVE YOU, TAILS!" She smiled. _I really do. I hope someday he'll feel the same way._

"The candy's ready, girls," Vanilla said.

"Oh, goody!" Cream cried, running into the kitchen.

"Careful, sweetie," Vanilla said, "sugar burns are very dangerous."

"Yes, Mother, I know," Cream said. "It's not easy to get sugar off your skin, and it keeps burning until it's all off." Cream had once gotten a bad burn in the kitchen helping her mother make caramel squares.

Amy started spooning white and dark chocolate together into a heart-shaped mold. "Heart lollipops are a great idea!" she said enthusiastically. "You guys must have a lot of fun. I should come over here more often." She used a toothpick to make a swirled effect on the lollipops.

"You're always welcome, Amy," Vanilla assured her. "Time to add the sticks."

"I've got them," Cream said, bringing over the sticks. "I'll insert the stick, then you can cover them with the chocolate, Amy!"

"Right," Amy said. As Vanilla returned to the stove, Amy whispered, "So how are things going with you and Tails?"

Cream sighed. "About the same way things are with you and Mr. Sonic," she admitted. "I'm expecting him to start running from me soon." She finished inserting the sticks, then stepped back so Amy could cover the ends with chocolate.

"Come on," Amy said, using a spatula to flatten the lollipops, "he's not going to start running from you! Didn't I promise I'd help you catch him?"

"Uh…yeah," Cream said.

"Chao chao chao chao chao!" Cheese said. At least, that was what Amy and Vanilla heard. Cream clearly heard, "The only way Amy can teach you to catch somebody is with a net!"

"Hush!" Cream hissed, glad Amy couldn't understand Cheese. The chao had a tendency to be brutally honest about her friends.

"Mint's ready, Cream," her mother said. Cream ran over to the stove and quickly added the peppermint extract and food coloring to the boiling granulated sugar.

"Too bad it'll take a long time for them to be ready," Cream said as she started removing lumps of the mint candy and dropping them onto wax paper. "I wish I'd thought about starting on this sooner. Tails really loves mint candy. Thanks for suggesting it, Mom!"

"I'm glad to help," Vanilla assured her, giving her daughter a hug. "I'll get the trays."

Amy leaned over and whispered to Cream, "It'll be Valentine's Day next week. That's the perfect time for you to finally declare your love."

Cream shook her head. "I think it's still too soon, Amy," she said. "Besides, I…I really think I should let Tails decide when he's ready."

"Okay, then leave it to me!" Amy said, giving her a chocolate-covered thumbs up.

"Amy, no!" Cream hissed. But the hedgehog had already gone back to her work.

"Cream, be careful," her mother warned her. "That candy is very hot."  
"Oh, right, sorry, Mom!" Cream said, going back to her work.

The aromas of cooking wafted out the open window in Vanilla's kitchen, where they were picked up by a small metallic figure.

"Mm…mm! That sure smells good!" Bokkun said to himself. "Must be Cream or her mom cooking! Wonder if I can get something to eat _and_ talk to my pretty little bunny?" He flew over to Cream's window, ducking down low. Cheese, noticing him, flew over and pushed the window shut.

"Cheese!" Vanilla cried. "Don't close the window! It's very warm in here!"

Cheese rolled his eyes, and opened the window again. Bokkun glared at the chao.

_Gonna get you for that, Cheeseball! _Bokkun said to himself. Cheese looked around, then grabbed a cookie Cream had baked yesterday. He sprinkled pepper on it, then tossed it out the window. As he'd hoped, Bokkun pounced on the cookie. He took a couple of bites, then stuffed the whole cookie into his mouth. He started chewing. Then his eyes bugged out.

"AAAHHH!!!" he shrieked, running to Vanilla's garden hose. He turned it on and nearly drowned himself trying to put out the fire in his mouth.

"What was that?!?" Vanilla asked from the stove.

Cream, recognizing Bokkun's voice, hurried to the window. She saw Bokkun look up, drop the hose, and fly away. "Uh…I guess I left the hose on outside, and it…squirted somebody when they walked by?" She made a face. She hated fibbing to her mother.

"Well, you'd better turn it off, dear," Vanilla said. "We should conserve water."

"Yes, Mom," Cream said. _Did he want to tell me something, or did he just smell our candy and want some? Or…_She remembered him showing up in her bedroom. He'd only wanted to tell her about the Cosmo robot, though. Right? Right?

****

"What's wrong, Tails?" Cosmo asked.

"Uh…nothing really important," Tails said, hating to lie to her.

Cosmo sighed. "Tails…I withheld information from you in the past, and we both came to regret that. If something's bothering you, please let me know."

"It's…Cream," Tails admitted.

Cosmo made a face. "That's my fault," she admitted, looking away. "I…I thought I wasn't…coming back," she told him. Despite asking him to be honest with her, she was still unable to admit that she knew she could have come back from the beginning and let him suffer for months wondering if he'd see her again in life. "I…I pushed the two of you together, didn't I?" She turned and looked him in the eyes. "If…if you want Cream…I'll understand."

Tails threw his arms around her. "No! No, I want you! Cream is my friend. My little sister. You're the one I love."

"I love you too, Tails," Cosmo said, blushing.

Tails suddenly remembered something. "Uh…excuse me just a moment, won't you, please?" he begged.  
"Uh…sure," Cosmo said, as Tails hurried from the room. _Now I've upset him! He waited all this time for me, and I just asked him if he was interested in Cream. What's wrong with you, Cosmo?_

Tails returned with a small black box. His face was red.

"Tails?" Cosmo said. "Are…are you okay? What's wrong?"

Tails got down on one knee. "C-Cosmo…" he stammered, "I-I have s-something I've w-wanted to ask you." He was perspiring heavily.

Cosmo placed her hand on his forehead. "You're ill! Oh, Tails, did I upset you so much, I made you sick? I'm so sorry!"

Tails shook his head. "N-no! No, I…I…" He swallowed loudly as he held the box up and opened it. The inside was lined with green velvet. Cosmo saw a ring with a small green stone. Her eyes grew wide.

"W-what's that for?" she asked. "It's very pretty, but…Tails, why are you on one knee? What-what are you doing?"

Tails was shaking again as he stammered, "C-C-Cosmo…w-will you m-m-marry me?"

This time, it was Cosmo that fainted.

To be continued

I know, this is still mostly filler. But that should change when Sonic shows up next time.


	3. Chapter 3: Sonic's Surprise

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Three

"Sonic's Surprise"

Cosmo found herself in a dark, silent place. Then she saw her sister, Galaxina. The older Seedrian smiled at her, then said, "Honestly, Cosmo! You came back to be with that boy, didn't you? Wake up and try not to embarrass yourself too much!"

Cosmo's eyes opened to find Tails leaning over her, his face full of concern.

"Are…are you okay?" Tails asked her. "I'm sorry! I…I don't know what I was thinking!!"

"No…it's okay," Cosmo said as Tails helped her back to her feet. "I'm the one that should be sorry. I was just so surprised!"

Tails had placed the box, now closed, on his coffee table. He looked very embarrassed, and more than a little hurt. "I know it's much too sudden, but…but I…I want you always be with me."

Cosmo sighed. "Tails…" she said softly. "We…we're too young to talk about marriage. I mean…I'm sure I want to marry you some day. But…but not now. I…I don't even know what being married is like. I've heard about it, but…but I'm not really sure what it's all about."

"I feel so stupid!" Tails said, wishing he could crawl under the sofa and stay there. "You're right. I don't even know what it's like having a girlfriend! And my parents…" He thought about them. About their opinion of Cosmo. How they'd feel when they came back to discover him with "that talking rose bush" again.

"What about your parents?" Cosmo asked. "I…I think I remember seeing them once or twice." Then her eyes grew large. "Oh." She looked down at herself. "Of course. They probably want you to marry a Mobian girl. Not an alien. A plant."

"I don't care what they want!" Tails cried.

Cosmo looked away. "So it's true, then, isn't it? You don't think they'd approve of me." She sat down on the couch. "The Marmolines warned me that animals and plants didn't normally get along!" She buried her head in her hands.

"Cosmo, please," Tails said, sitting down next to her. "It doesn't matter what they think."

"Of course it matters," Cosmo insisted, refusing to look at him. "They're your parents! And they want what's best for you!"

"You're what's best for me," Tails said, taking her wrists and pulling them away from her face. "Cosmo, I don't care if they approve of you or not. I love you."

Cosmo looked him in the eyes. "I'm still causing you problems! Just like I did in space!"

"You never caused me any problems," Tails insisted. "Why did you ever think that? Because you were depressed? You had every right to be. Because you didn't understand some things that the rest of us did? You're not from around here, how could you? Our cultures are different, but that happens with anybody. Amy had some trouble adjusting when she came here from Mercia. You can learn, just like she did."

"What about my telling the Metarex where we were and what we were doing?" Cosmo pointed out.

"That wasn't your fault, Cosmo!" Tails told her. "You couldn't help what Dark Oak did to you."

"He said he'd let me live…if I took his hand," Cosmo said, looking down at her own hand. "And I wanted to live, Tails. Even though everyone that mattered to me was gone, I was terrified of dying!"

"But later, you saved everyone," Tails reminded her. "You're a hero, Cosmo!"

"But I was scared," she said, looking down at the floor. "I didn't want to be a hero. I just wanted a little place near a brook with my mother and sisters, and my mother able to walk and talk and hold me in her arms, and…and what I got were monsters killing everyone and putting some horrible thing in my brain so I could never get away from them, and…"

Cosmo gasped. "Tails! Could it…could it still be here…" She placed her hand on her forehead. "Inside of my head?!?"

Tails looked horrified. "I…I don't know," he said. "I…I can check. But…but it doesn't matter anymore, does it? I mean…the Metarex are all dead now!"

Cosmo struggled again to remember something her sister had told her. About the Metarex.

"Cosmo!" Tails cried. "What's the matter? Is your head hurting?"

"I…" but Cosmo never finished. There was a tapping sound at the window.

"What's that?" Tails asked. He went to the window, worried he'd see a robot trying to break in. He was surprised to find it was a bird.

"Huh? A flicky?" Tails said, opening the window. "Hey, there, little guy. What is it?"  
Cosmo stepped cautiously towards them. "I've never seen anything like that before," she said.

"It's a flicky bird," Tails told her. "I've seen them both on this world and on Earth. I wonder why this one is here? Hello, what's this?"

"What's what, Tails?" Cosmo asked softly, hoping she didn't frighten the little bird away. It stared at her a moment, then seemed to sense she was no threat, and become calmer.

"There's a note on this bird's leg," Tails said. He gently removed it. "Uh…thank you," he said. The flicky nodded, then started moving towards the still open window. It jumped out the window and flew away.

"What does it say, Tails?" Cosmo asked, trying to read over Tails' shoulder. Normally, he hated that, but it didn't bother him that she was doing it.

"Let's see," Tails said, unrolling the paper. "'Miles, Plant safe. Robot came for it. Red Pine…" That was all. Tails stared at it in confusion. "Plant safe? Well, of course your plant's safe! But what's this about a robot coming for it? And Red Pine's dead!"

The name seemed to release something in her brain. Memories of her final conversation with Galaxina before leaving came back to her. "Tails!" she cried. "Red Pine's alive!"

Tails dropped the note. "Say what?!? But…but he's dead! His ship fell into a black hole!"

"So did yours!" Cosmo pointed out. "And Doctor Eggman's!"

"But Sonic saved us, and Shadow saved Eggman," Tails said. "Neither of them would have helped Red Pine, and there isn't anyone else that could have saved him!"

"No, there was someone else," Cosmo said, rubbing her head. "Someone…the one that could have saved me from what I had to go through. From what we both had to go through. Doom. Yes, that's it. Black Doom. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"Black Doom?" Tails said, trying to think. "Hmm…there were some people on a couple of planets that mentioned something about a Black Comet that traveled through space. It was supposed to bring evil and madness and destruction with it. But that's probably just a legend. And Knuckles said Rouge told him something about a Black Wind, but that's also probably a legend. Is Black Doom something in your culture, Cosmo?"

Cosmo struggled to remember. "There was something about him…something _awful_! He…" She gasped. "Oh, Tails! I think…I think he had something to do with the Metarex being created!"

Tails stared at her. "You're sure? Did…did your mother tell you?"

"She told me something about him," Cosmo said. "I'm sorry. It's so cloudy."

"That's okay," Tails said, patting her on the head. "Don't hurt yourself trying to remember, Cosmo. If it comes back, fine, if not, maybe you should let it go."

"But I want to help," Cosmo told him, looking into his eyes. "I want to be useful, Tails."

And before he thought to be embarrassed, Tails' arms were around her, holding her close. "You _are_ useful, Cosmo!" He assured her. "You've always been useful. You kept me from giving up when I was nearly overwhelmed with self doubt. You helped us fight the Metarex so many times. You helped us destroy that monster, Dark Oak, once and for all."

"Yeah," Cosmo said softly. "You really hate him, huh?"

"Of course I do!" Tails said. Then he remembered something. "Cosmo," he said, pulling back and looking her in the eyes again. "You said once that in time, you'd forgive him. Did you mean that?"

Cosmo bit her lip. "If I believed he would change, I could try," Cosmo said. "But I know he would never accept our love. So I will continue to hate him."

Tails felt something in his stomach. That statement made what he had long feared might be true seem more likely. Why would she want Dark Oak to accept their love, unless…

****

The former palace guard grumbled as he walked through the field that was a part of his watch now. He still couldn't believe that he'd been removed from his post at the palace and stuck out here in the middle of nowhere. All because he hadn't recognized some smart aleck brainy fox and fat old walrus. His boots crunched the snow and ice as he walked. Then he noticed an odd odor in the air. Smoke? Someone probably just burning dead tree branches to keep himself warm. It was too much to hope that something interesting would happen out here. Nothing ever did.

He at last came to the lowly shack which now served as his base. He opened the door and stepped into the small, one room building. There was a cot with a scratchy army blanket against the far wall. To the left sat a small stove and a refrigerator. To the right was the desk where he filled out his reports. He went inside and closed the door. He needed coffee. Needed it bad. He picked up the coffee pot, shook it. Nothing. He checked his water containers behind the stove. Empty.

"Blast it! Have to go to the creek to get water again!" he complained, peppering his language with a few other choice words. The princess hadn't appreciated his cursing. Well, at least out here, what he said was none of her business. He picked up a bucket and left the shack.

As he approached the creek, he heard the chattering of birds. What was with those creatures? Why hadn't they flown south for the winter like normal birds?

He hadn't gone far when he came across a still figure laying in the snow, an old, gnarled staff nearby.

"Hey!" he yelled, running towards the figure. "Hey, you!" He turned the stranger over. It was an old fox, dressed in robes. Some sort of priest? "Hey, old timer, you alive?"

The old fox coughed and opened his eyes. "What? Where am I?"

"Whoa there, easy Grandpa," the guard said. "What happened, you slip on the ice and hit your head?"

"No, of course not," Merlin told him, annoyed by his condescending speech. "I was fighting a robot. I destroyed it, but must have passed out from the effort. I have to go!"

He reached for his staff. The guard stared at him. "Fighting a robot?" He nodded. "Sure you did, buddy." He placed his hands under the fox's arms and pulled him to his feet. "Come on, let's get you someplace safe." He rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, young man," Merlin said. "I must see my nephew at once! He has to know about the illusionary field around his regenerating girlfriend."

"Uh…yeah, sure, pops," the guard said, helping Merlin back to the shack. He helped him lay down on the cot. "You just rest here while I…call somebody to come and pick you up."

"Thank you," Merlin said again, shutting his eyes. "But I'm quite certain I'll be able to teleport back to where I'm needed once I've had some rest." He soon dozed off again.

"Oh, this character has it bad!" the guard said to himself. He took his phone, then stepped outside. He made a call. "Hello? Yeah, it's George. Listen, there's an old coot, says he's been fighting robots and teleporting all over the place. Yeah, nutty as a fruitcake. I think you should send somebody from Happy Acres to get him. Right. I'll make sure he doesn't hurt himself until you get here."

The guard hung up the phone then went back into the cabin. He'd see to it that the old fox stayed put until somebody came to take him off his hands, even if he had to tie him down.

****

Cosmo looked embarrassed, and not because Tails was still holding her. More like he'd caught her in a lie, or withholding something from him. "Tails?" she asked nervously. "Shouldn't you call Sonic and tell him about Red Pine?"

"Yeah, good idea," Tails said, letting her go. He experienced a feeling of loss. He wanted to keep holding her, he realized, but this was important. He reached for his phone…and it wasn't there. Where was it again? He sighed. "I can't believe I keep having to do this!" he muttered as he went to his wall phone.

"Do what, Tails?" Cosmo asked. "I don't understand."

Tails picked up the phone. "I have to call my cell phone and wait for it to ring so I can follow the sound and find it," he admitted sheepishly.

"Oh," Cosmo said. "Uh…couldn't you call Sonic on that phone?"

Tails blinked. "Uh…yeah," he said, suddenly feeling really stupid. He called Sonic.

"Yo! You have reached Sonic the Hedgehog! The price of chili dogs is getting higher, and Eggman's getting _larger_!"

Tails rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sonic! Enough with the Eggman fat jokes! Pick up!" He heard a beep. Voice mail. "Sonic! It's me, Tails! I gotta talk to you right away!"

"Hey, Tails!" he heard. "I'll be on my way to your place in a few. I'm picking up some…"

"That's not important now, Sonic!" Tails cried. "You have to get over here right now!"

"What happened?" Sonic said, sounding serious. "You okay, little bro?"

"I'm fine," Tails assured him, looking over at Cosmo, and smiling. "But I need to talk to you about something extremely important!"

There was no sound on the line except a loud wind. Tails now had his back to the still open window, so he didn't notice when Sonic suddenly leaped in and ran over to him.

"So what's up, bro?" Sonic asked, setting down the snacks and DVDs he'd brought onto Tails' coffee table. He hadn't noticed Cosmo, who was standing against the far wall.

"It's not something we can really discuss over the phone," Tails said, wondering why he was suddenly getting an echo effect on Sonic's voice.

"Um…Tails?" Cosmo said, noticing Sonic.

"Just a second, please," Tails said to her. "This really can't wait, Sonic!"

"Hmm…sounds like something big is up," Sonic said, turning towards the person Tails had just spoken to with a bemused grin on his face. This expression changed quickly as he saw who the other person in the room was. "Whoa! What the hell?!?"

"What's wrong, Sonic?" Tails asked, still speaking into the phone.

Sonic stared at Cosmo. "Please tell me you didn't build a new Metal Cosmo," Sonic said.

"Huh?" Tails said into the phone. "What are you talking about, Sonic? Why would I build a robot duplicate of Cosmo?"

"No, I'm really me," Cosmo assured the hedgehog. She held up her hand. "I just cut myself on some glass. Would you like to see?"

Tails blinked. "Cosmo? Who are you talking to?" He turned around and dropped the phone. "Sonic?!? How long have you been…?" He groaned. "I've been making a fool of myself, haven't I?"

"No, Tails," Cosmo assured him. "That wasn't very nice, Sonic."

"Uh…sorry," Sonic said, still staring at Cosmo. "You sure sound like her."

"What do I need to do to convince you?" Cosmo asked, stepping towards him. As she did, she tripped over the coffee table. Sonic caught her before she hit the floor.

"Well, that's a pretty good start," Sonic quipped. "Nah, I'm kidding, Cosmo."

"Thank you, Sonic," Cosmo said. "I can't believe I'm still doing this sort of thing!"

"Cosmo! Are you okay?" Tails asked, rushing to her.

"I'm fine, Tails," Cosmo said as Sonic set her down on her feet. "But should your phone be making that awful sound?"

"I left it off the hook?" Tails said, turning back towards it. "Man, I'm really not running on all cylinders today, am I?"

"You've had an awful shock, Tails," Cosmo pointed out, placing her hand on his forehead.  
"Nothing could be awful about having you back," Tails assured her.

"I'll hang it up," Sonic said, already at the phone. "Why are you using this one, anyway?"

"Uh…lost my cell again," Tails said sheepishly.

"Wait. There's something I don't understand," Cosmo said. "Why don't you wear the wrist phone you wore while we were in space?"

"I…I really didn't like using anything from back then," Tails admitted. "That was the phone I used to call Sonic when we were trapped in the caves with the snake Metarex."

"Tails…have you been avoiding everything from when you knew me?" Cosmo asked.

Tails looked at the clock on the wall. It was an old clock with a cat's face on it. The pendulum that swung back and forth was the cat's tail. "Uh…maybe."

"Sonic!" Cosmo cried, glaring at him. "I expected you to take better care of him!"

Sonic held his hands up and backed away. "Whoa! You're no robot, that's for darn sure! Sorry, I doubted you, Cosmo!"

Cosmo stared blankly at him. "Uh…what?"

Sonic laughed. "No robot would be that defensive of their boyfriend."

Cosmo looked away, blushing. Tails stared at the clock some more. It occurred to him that it needed a new paint job.

He forgot all about the clock when Sonic suddenly threw his arms around Cosmo. Cosmo's eyes grew large with surprise. She looked over at Tails. Then she looked back at Sonic. "Are…are you crying, Sonic?"

"Nah, course not," Sonic said, "just something in my eye." He rubbed at his eyes, then said, "Really great to have you back, Cosmo. I'm really sorry I hurt you."

"Well, actually, you didn't hurt me," Cosmo said, "you killed me." She felt Sonic pull away, as if struck. "Oh, but it's all right now!" she assured him, patting the hedgehog on the back. "You brought me back, after all!"

"So…you're not mad about what happened?" Sonic asked, sounding really confused now.

"No, Sonic," she said, looking him in the eyes. "I asked you to do it, remember? I haven't changed my mind about how important that was." Then the moment of impact came back to her. She turned away as she made a face.

Sonic looked over at Tails, suddenly embarrassed. "Hey, little buddy," he said, stepping away from Cosmo and dropping his arms to his sides. "I'm not trying to take her away from you or anything. Don't beat me up, okay?"

Tails seemed to be considering this seriously. Finally he said, "Well, I'd hate to start to beat you up, then find out I couldn't."

"Hey, that's pretty good," Sonic said, giving the fox a thumb's up. "You haven't made jokes like that since…oh yeah. Never mind."

"I'd offer you something to eat, Sonic," Cosmo said, "but there's nothing here to serve." She looked over at Tails. "That would have changed whether I came back or not, wouldn't it?"

"I was just going to get food tomorrow," Tails promised her. "I didn't today because we were getting ready to go to a party, and…" He turned to Sonic. "I completely forgot the party!"

"That's not all you forgot," Cosmo told him. "Sonic, he didn't just call you because I'm alive again. I'm not the only one! Red Pine is still out there somewhere!"

Sonic stared at her. "Say what? We saw him fall into that black hole, Cosmo! He's a goner!"

"We also fell into that black hole," Cosmo pointed out. "You saved us. Someone saved him. Do you know a Black Doom?"

Sonic scratched his head. "Nope. Sounds like a comic book character."

"A comic book?" Cosmo repeated, looking confused and a bit annoyed. "There's nothing funny about this, Sonic!"

"Huh?" Sonic said. "No, comic books aren't always comical."

Cosmo looked at Tails. "Comic books aren't always comical? I must be missing something."

"I'll try to explain it later," Tails promised. He turned to Sonic. "Seriously, Sonic, what do we do about Red Pine?"

Sonic shrugged, his face twisting up on one side. "We took care of the other kings, we can take care of him too."

"I hope you're right," Tails said, putting his arm around Cosmo. It didn't occur to him that he'd done it without asking permission this time. "We let the other Metarex kings get away when we could have finished them before Forestation, and look what happened to Cosmo!"

"Tails, that isn't fair to Sonic," Cosmo told him. "He's right. We don't know where Red Pine is, or what he plans to do now. Unless he starts stealing planet eggs, or some other horrible thing, we may not be able to find him."

"You don't want to go after him?" Tails asked her. "I thought you'd want to get him for his part in your people's destruction."

"Yes, of course I want to stop him!" Cosmo said firmly. "He was the one that killed my sisters Galaxina and Nova! But…but I just don't want to fight anymore! I want to be a normal person again, Tails! If he does something we can use to track him down, I'll be happy to lead the way against him. Until then, I don't want to think about him." Her eyes grew sad. "I don't want to start becoming obsessed again like I was before."

"I'm sorry," Tails said. "You're trying to get your life back together, and I'm dragging you back to a bad place you're trying to get out of." He ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

"It's okay, Tails," she assured him, taking his hand in hers. "You're just showing your concern for me."

"Come on, little buddy," Sonic said, "you really do need to lighten up. It's okay. She's back now. You can be yourself again." He looked at Cosmo. "You have no idea how bad he's been."

Tails felt his face grow warm. "Sonic!"

"It's all right, Tails," Cosmo said, patting his hand. "I know how he's been, Sonic. I've been watching."

"Uh…watching?" Sonic repeated, suddenly looking at her funny.

Cosmo nodded. Holding onto Tails' hand with her right hand, she pointed up with her left. "Up there," she said. "Remember? I told you he should look to the sky and the trees, because that was where I'd be?"

"Oh, right," Sonic said. He seemed to be thinking of saying something else, then shook his head. "Uh…you remember from…back then?"

"When I was dead?" Cosmo said. "You can't say that either, can you?" She shut her eyes. "I can't really remember too much from between when you and Shadow hit me until I found myself in Tails' greenhouse. I know I went swimming a lot and talked to all of my relatives." She made a face. "And possessed Cream. I'm going to have to make it up to her for that!"

"Uh…you might not want to tell people about you being…dead, and all," Sonic pointed out.

Cosmo looked at him. Her face seemed confused. "People would think I'm crazy, wouldn't they?" she asked. "Could you tell me if I start acting really strange or say something you think might cause problems?"

"Uh…sure," Sonic told her. He gave Tails a strange look.

"She's fine, Sonic!" Tails insisted. The look on his face left no room to argue.

"Well, anyway," Sonic said, hoping he was worrying about nothing, "let's get this place set up for the big party!"

"I don't have any party supplies or food," Tails pointed out. He pointed to the bags Sonic had brought. "We can't just serve our guests chips and pretzels. Remember? We were going to Cream's house?" Cream. Yeah, what would Cream think when she saw Cosmo was alive?

"But this isn't just a you feeling better party now," Sonic pointed out, giving them both a thumbs up. "This is now a welcome home Cosmo party! And I think it should be held here. So just call Cream and tell her we're moving the party over to your house. And don't worry. I can get everything before anybody gets here! See ya!" And with that, he was out the window and gone.

"He never stays in one place very long, does he?" Cosmo asked.

"I'm not really sure he can," Tails told her. "He gets sort of nervous if he's not on the go. Maybe something having to do with his powers."

"Oh," Cosmo said. She looked around his living room. There were magazines on his coffee table next to the items Sonic had brought, a soda can by his television set, notepads on his mantel, a stack of books next to the telephone, and the bird's note still on the floor where Tails had dropped it. "Tails? Maybe we should clean this room up a little?"

Tails looked around. "Huh? Oh, uh, that's okay, don't bother," he told her. "I can do it." He started stacking up the books.

"Tails, please let me help," Cosmo insisted.

"Sure," Tails said, smiling. "We can just leave the stuff Sonic brought for last."

Tails carried the books to a closet. Cosmo followed him with the magazines. A couple of notepads ended up next to the phone, the rest Tails placed in his desk, along with the warning. He looked again at the vines. They were still there, and clearly weren't going anywhere. He shook the soda can. Nearly empty. He finished it in one gulp, then took it out through the kitchen to his service patio. He passed his washing machine and dryer, and opened the lid of his aluminum recycling bin. He tossed it in, making a mental note to cut back on soda. It really wasn't good for him, and the reason he'd started drinking so much no longer applied. He turned to see Cosmo had followed him. "Uh…do you need something, Cosmo?"

"No," she said, looking around. "I was just curious about this place. I haven't been here before."

"Oh, well, there's not too much to it," Tails said. "Just a couple of machines, one for washing clothes, the other for drying them."

Cosmo noticed a bottle on the floor. She picked it up. "Fabric softener," she read.

"Yeah, I like my socks soft," Tails said. Did that make him sound nerdy? Did he-men use fabric softener?

"Oh," Cosmo said. She looked down at herself. "Do I look all right, dressed like this?"

Tails looked her over. For a bicycling trip to the beach, she looked fine, but for a party…

"Maybe we can find you something else," he suggested, leading her back to his room. He suddenly felt that the clothes his mother had gotten him that seemed so girlish on him weren't girlish enough on her. He dug through his closet. A t-shirt and blue jeans just wasn't the right combo for a return from the dead party for the guest of honor. But his mother's clothes were too big for her.

Tails heard a whirring sound. Then Sonic was climbing in the window, arms loaded down with groceries.

"That was fast, Sonic," Cosmo said admiringly.

"Would have been here sooner, but I had to stop for a red light," Sonic said with a grin. "So, have you called everybody yet?"

"Uh…not yet," Tails admitted.

Sonic's grin became broader. "Perfect! Allow me!" He picked up Tails' phone. "Uh…what's Cream's number again?"

Tails recited it from memory. He'd called both her and Vanilla many times, often at night, for an understanding ear to talk to. He noticed Cosmo tilt her head to one side as he read it. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Huh?" Cosmo said. "No, just trying to remember the number."

Sonic motioned for her to be quiet. "Hey, Cream," he said into the receiver. "Yup, it's me all right! How are you and your mom? Great, hey, glad to hear it. Oh, I hope you haven't been going through too much trouble for the party." He listened for a minute, then placed his hand over the receiver. "She says no, but you know her. Bet she's gone all out." He spoke into the phone, "We've decided to have the party here at Tails' house, if that's okay. What? You'll bring everything over?"

Suddenly he pulled the phone away from his ear. Tails and Cosmo could hear "Sonic Sonic Sonic Sonic Sonic!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Guess who just got on the phone?" he said. "Hey, Amy! What? No, I'm not inviting you out on a date! This is a party for Tails! Make sure Cream and her mom come over, and call Knuckles too. Yeah, and don't forget the Chaotix." He held the phone away again.

"I hate Vector! He should go jump in the lake! Only he's a croc, so he'd probably like it!"

"Hey, that's great, Amy!" Sonic said. "Just take whatever you've got and get over here. We've got plenty of food already. No, I'm insulting your cooking! Sure, bring any decorations you want. This is going to be a really big shindig! Okay, see ya!" He hung up. "Whew, what a woman!"

"She sounds very enthusiastic, Sonic," Cosmo said. "You should be nicer to her."

"Well…we'll see," Sonic told her. "Sorry we don't have streamers or a disco ball, but Amy, Cream, and Miss Vanilla will be bringing those things over. We can all set up the party together."

Cosmo looked at him seriously. "How do you want to explain to them that I'm back?" she asked. "It's not something you can just throw at someone."

"I think you mean spring at someone," Sonic said. "And don't worry, Cosmo. I know just the way to let everybody know you're back."

"Sonic," Tails said, "Cosmo needs something to wear to the party."

"She looks okay to me, buddy," Sonic said. "But I'll see what I can do." He looked her up and down. Sonic had a very keen eye. Without it, he probably would run into anything in his path while traveling at high speeds. He nodded. "Okay, you look about the same size as my sister, and she's just a bit bigger than Cream. Don't go away, I'll be right back!" Before their eyes, Sonic seemed to blur, said blur moving across the living room and out the window.

"This is exciting!" Cosmo told Tails. "I hope everyone is happy to see me again."

"Of course they'll be happy to see you," Tails assured her. "Why wouldn't they?"

Cosmo looked away. "You and Sonic both acted strangely when you first saw me. This robot of me that Doctor Eggman built…they'll think I'm a robot as well, won't they?"

"If they do, I'll convince them they're wrong!" Tails promised. "Don't worry! They'll all be thrilled you're back!"

Cosmo, still looking away from him, suddenly noticed the box with the ring, still sitting on the coffee table next to Sonic's purchases. She picked it up.

"Uh, Tails? Shouldn't you put this up before the party starts?"

Tails took the box from her. "Whoops! You're right, Cosmo! Amy would tell everybody in town we were getting married! And Cream will…"

Cosmo took a deep breath and let it out noisily, blowing the hair out of her eyes. "She's the one I'm really worried about," she admitted. "She's going to be hurt. And…and she might not want to be my friend anymore." She covered her face with her hands.

"I'm sure she will," Tails said. "You two were so close before, and…"

"We weren't in love with the same boy then," Cosmo said, sitting down on the couch again. She noticed a loose thread and started pulling at it absently. "Amy was so angry at me at first because I asked to see Sonic. I've seen that people in relationships become very possessive." Tails noticed the thread was now about a foot long. Cosmo hadn't looked at it yet, though, so she probably wasn't aware of exactly what she was doing. "I can't blame them for that," she went on, still unraveling his couch. "I don't want to…share you…either." She blushed. "Listen to me, I sound like Amy!" She laughed nervously.

"I'm not interested in anybody else," Tails assured her, "and I wouldn't like it one bit if you were interested in some other guy, Cosmo." The string was now nearly two feet long. "Uh…Cosmo? Please stop pulling on that string."

Cosmo jumped. She looked down at what she was doing. "Oh my gosh! Oh, Tails, I'm so sorry!" She started trying to stuff the string back into the couch.

"It's okay," Tails assured her. "I'll get a pair of scissors and cut it." He left the room.

_What's wrong with you?_ Cosmo asked herself while he was gone. _I thought everything would be perfect when I came back. Now my best friend will probably hate me, and it's my fault for pushing them together! What was I thinking?_

Tails returned with a pair of scissors. He cut off the string. "I'll throw this away in the kitchen," he told her. "Be right back."

It was while he was out of the room this time that the wind started up again. Sonic was suddenly there with a blue dress. "Sorry, but my sister didn't have a green dress."

"It's very pretty," Cosmo said, "but what did you tell her?"

"Uh…tell her?" Sonic said, suddenly noticing something fascinating on the ceiling.

"You didn't tell her?" Cosmo demanded. "Sonic!"

"Hey, whoa, it's not stealing," Sonic insisted, holding up his hands and backing away a couple of steps. "I'm sure she'd be glad to help out a future friend. And I just know the two of you are going to get along great, Cosmo!" He shrugged. "Besides, she wasn't home."

"Well, I…wait, you have a sister?" Hadn't he already mentioned that a few minutes ago? She realized she hadn't been paying attention to what he had been saying. She was too nervous about meeting everyone again, especially Cream. _Please let us still be friends! _

"Oh, that's right," Sonic said, smacking his forehead. "How would you have known about her? My bad!"

"That looks like a nice dress," Tails said, returning from the kitchen. "Thanks, Sonic!"

"Any time, pal!" Sonic said. "Come on, Tails, help me fix up the party while Cosmo gets dressed!"

"Sure," Tails said. "I'm sorry I still don't have shoes for you, Cosmo."

"Yeah," Sonic said. "I noticed my sis's shoes wouldn't have fit you."

"Well, shoes aren't that important," Cosmo said. "There were groves on our ship that we only entered barefoot." She bowed. "Excuse me, I'll be right back." Tails watched her walk away. He turned to help Sonic with the party, but the hedgehog, true to form, had already gotten bowls for the snacks, and was just pouring a bag of corn chips into one.  
"This is really great, isn't it?" Sonic asked, grinning.

"Yeah, it is," Tails said, grinning back. "She's alive! And she's well! And she's safe! And…and…" Now it was Tails' turn to throw his arms around Sonic. "Thank you! Thank you, big brother! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I said all those mean things to you before! Please, I…I wasn't in my right mind then!"

"Dude," Sonic said, trying to pull away without spilling the chips all over the floor, "it's okay now. And you're gonna cry in the chips, and if there's one thing I hate worse than cold chili dogs, it's soggy chips!"

"Sorry," Tails, said, rubbing at his eyes.

"Don't let her see you cry," Sonic suggested softly, suddenly serious. "Not today."

"R-right," Tails said, smiling. "You're right as usual, Sonic!"

Sonic started taking out paper plates from a package. "Was there ever any doubt?"

Tails opened a large bag of candy and poured it into a bowl. One piece fell on the floor. Stooping down to pick it up, Tails noticed the thongs he'd been looking for under the coffee table. He grabbed the candy and set it down on the table, then went to get the shoes for Cosmo.

"Five second rule!" Sonic said. Tails made a face. Well, not that long ago, he would have thought nothing of eating off the floor. Just how bad had he been?

They were just finishing with the snacks when Cosmo came back in, wearing Anita's dress. It was a bit tight on her, but a better fit than Tails had expected.

"Well?" Cosmo asked Tails nervously. "How do I look?" She spun around slowly, something she'd learned from watching Amy flirt with Sonic.

"You look beautiful, Cosmo," Tails said. "Of course, you look beautiful in anything you wear."

Cosmo looked down at her feet. "Thank you, Tails," she said. She looked up, and noticed the shoes in his hand. "Those are odd-looking shoes," she said. "Do you think they'd fit my feet?"

Tails held them out to her. "I'm sorry I don't have slippers for you," he said as she took them from him. "I'll buy you some as soon as I get the chance." Actually, her feet were shaped differently from Mobians. She'd probably need specially made shoes.

"Thank you, Tails," Cosmo said, trying one on. Her foot was long enough for the flip-flop, but much thinner. She put on the other, then tried walking in them. As her heels lifted but the heels of the shoes didn't, she felt off-balanced. Tails grabbed her arm.

"Easy," he said, "I've got you!"

"Hopefully I won't have to do too much walking at the party," Cosmo said, crossing the room while Tails held onto her. "How do you run in them?"

"You don't," Sonic said. "Don't worry, Cosmo, this is a party, not a race."

"It's okay, Tails, I've got it," Cosmo said once she'd reached the kitchen. She turned around and walked back across the room without help. At the end of the room, she turned around. "How did I do?" she asked.

"Great!" Tails said.

"I've seen these shoes with high heels," Cosmo said, looking at the flip-flops. "How do girls walk in those?"

"Not a clue," Sonic said. "You'll have to ask Amy."

"I will," Cosmo said, looking at Tails. "There's so much I don't know, so much I want to learn now. And now I can, because we have all the time in the world!"

"Yeah," Tails said, walking towards her. "We sure do!"

****

The machines whirred as they made their calculations. There was a pinging sound as they completed their analysis. Metallic hands moved to the machine. Scanners made to look and act like eyes went over the information. The gleaming figure nodded.

"The master will be pleased by this," the figure said in a feminine voice. She made a print-out, carefully stacking the sheets as they came from the machine, then shut it off. She walked across the white floor under the glaring lights, and entered a corridor. The floor began to move under her metal feet. At the end of the corridor, she entered a room.

"Master!" she said. "I have your figures here!"

"Didn't I teach you to knock?!?" a figure in red demanded. He sat on a throne of gold. Six robot women were standing nearby, dancing for him. He didn't really care much for them, but he enjoyed the fact that he now possessed everything Dark Oak and the others had owned. He didn't really want to know what else Black Narcissus had used them for.

His assistant, formerly Pale Bay Leaf's secretary, bowed. "Forgive me, Master! I felt you would want these right away."

He pulled them from her hand and studied them. He wasn't the scientist Narcissus or Bay Leaf had been, but he knew enough to follow most of what was written. And, of course, anything he didn't understand, he knew that Willow would explain it to him. She was very proud of her computer brain. A bit too proud, actually. He made a mental note to take her down a few pegs one day soon.

"Will there be anything else, Master?" Willow asked, bowing.

"Not for now," Red Pine told her, waving his hand dismissively. "You may go." While Narcissus' dancing girls were beautiful airheads, Willow was a rather dull and plain genius. He would have been fascinated by the differences between his two former teammates if he had cared about them. But anyone not useful to him or the plan was superfluous.

Willow bowed again, then left the room. Since her new master spent much of his time going over reports and planning for the great future that the warriors of light had postponed but not prevented, Willow ran the ship they traveled through space in. It wouldn't be easy to succeed where Emperor Dark Oak and her master, King Bay Leaf, had failed. They were few now, and only one of the kings still lived. But even though Forestation had failed and the space anomaly had run its course and closed for another thousand years, Willow had faith that Red Pine would succeed where the others had failed. After all, hadn't he told her repeatedly that he would?

****

"So, Sonic," Cosmo said nervously, pacing the living room floor, "how do you want to do this? Should I wait behind you while you tell everyone you have shocking news for them, so they should all sit down? Or do you have another way in mind?"

"Well, I…" Sonic said, just as there was a knock on the door.

"Quick! Hide!" Sonic said to Cosmo. He took her arm and led her to the living room closet. "Hide in here," he said, opening the door and gently pushing her inside. "Don't come out 'til I tell you!" He stood in front of the door.

Tails sputtered. "Sonic! You're not going to break the news to everybody gently, are you? You can't expect Cosmo to just jump out and yell 'Surprise!' You'll shock people!"

"Trust me," Sonic said. Tails groaned and started towards him to try to push the blue hedgehog away from the door and let Cosmo out. Just then, the knocking grew louder.

"Let us in!" came Amy Rose's sharp cry. Tails realized in a moment she'd be battering the door down. Since Sonic wasn't moving, Tails went to the door and opened it.

"Tails!" Cream cried, throwing her arms around him. "How are you? Are you okay?"

"Ah…hi, Cream," Tails said. "I'm…I'm fine, really." _But you won't be. I'm sorry, Cream. I'm sorry, this is going to hurt you!_

"Sonic!" Amy cried, pushing past Tails and Cream and rushing for the closet. She threw her arms around Sonic, nearly knocking him over. "Thank you for inviting me over!"

"Will you stop saying that?!" Sonic said, trying to get free. "I invited everybody over. Let go, Amy! Can't breath!"

"You don't need air when you have love!" Amy insisted, struggling to hold onto him. Sonic fell against the closet door. He tried to pry himself free, kicking the door a couple of times. Inside, Cosmo heard the knocking and tried to push the door open. Since Sonic and Amy had their weight against it, the door failed to move. She sighed at the sound of Amy and Sonic fighting. Nine months, and she hadn't seemed to have gotten anywhere with him. _At this rate, Tails and I __**will**__ be married before they are._

Vanilla came in carrying a basket. She noticed Cream hugging Tails, then Amy hugging Sonic. She let out a sigh. "Cream, dear, I think you should let Tails go now."

"Yes, Mom," Cream said, blushing. She'd forgotten her mother was right behind her. "But you _are_ feeling better today, aren't you, Tails?"

"I'm feeling fine," Tails said. Actually, he would have been feeling great if he wasn't afraid something terrible was about to happen between two good friends. Something that he would always feel he was responsible for.

Anita came in next. "Onii-chan!" she pouted. "I can't believe you didn't invite me! I only found out when Mom said you came whirling in, said something about a party at Tails' house, then took off carrying something blue."

"Uh, yeah," Sonic said. "About that…"

"Where's the food?" Vector demanded, bursting through the doorway, followed by Mighty, Ray, Charmy with Saffron, and Espio, who looked, as usual, bored with everything the other Chaotix did.

"Hey, Mighty! Ray!" Sonic said. "Don't see much of you guys!"

"We're hoping that changes shortly, Sonic," Mighty said.

"Yeah, somebody has to keep Vector out of trouble!" Ray added.

"You got that right!" Charmy said. "High five!"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you guys were insulting me!" Vector said. Ordinary, he'd tell them both to shut up, but with Vanilla in the room, the normally irascible croc was clearly on his best behavior.

Knuckles showed up next, stepping inside only to be grabbed from behind. "He's my date!" Rouge yelled at the pink echidna beside her.

"In your dreams!" Julie-Su said, grabbing Knuckles' other arm. Knuckles' face hit the doorway.

"Ow! Hey, knock it off, you two!" This got Knuckles crushed between them as the two girls struggled to fit through the doorway first.

"Go on a diet!" Julie-Su said, struggling to get unstuck.

"Are you calling me fat?!?" Rouge demanded, elbowing Knuckles in the face while trying to pull herself our of the doorway.

"If the flab fits!" Julie-Su snarled, kicking Knuckles in the shin.

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled as they continued to squish him between them. "Togetherness is fine, but this is ridiculous!"

"I can't breath!" Rouge complained.

"Good, croak!" Julie snorted.

"Are you three really stuck?" Cream asked. "We should help them!" She walked over to the doorway and looked them over. "Okay, I think Mister Knuckles should try to back up, then Miss Rouge should come inside first."

"What?!?" Julie-Su demanded. "Are you saying she's better than me, kid?"

Cream placed her hands on her hips. "No, I'm not, Miss Julie-Su! I just think she's further in than you are, so it would be easier if she came in and you went back out for a second. See?"

"You're going to be a politician, aren't you?" Rouge asked, grinning. "I like your moxie, kid."

Cream looked at herself. "What's that?" she asked. "My dress? My new bow? My socks?"

Sonic laughed. "Well, looks like the gang's all here," he said, reaching for the handle on the closet door. "Oh, by the way, did I tell you guys that this is a surprise party?"

"Really, Sonic?" Amy asked, grinning at him. "Who are we surprising?"

"Sonic, no!" Tails cried. "Everybody, you need to know something very important! You see…"

"Actually," Sonic said, opening the closet door before Tails could finish, "you guys!"

Unfortunately, Cosmo, wondering what was going on, had been leaning against the door trying to listen to what was being said. Not expecting Sonic to suddenly open the door, Cosmo fell onto the floor. The conversation stopped, the room becoming silent. Cosmo looked nervously up at every one, friend and stranger alike, and forced a smile onto her lips.

"Uh…surprise?"


	4. Chapter 4: Good Times, Bat Times

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Four

"Good Times, Bat Times"

"_Cosmo_?!?" Amy and Cream screamed.

"What the hell?!?" Knuckles cried.

"Um…it's a pleasure to see all of you again," Cosmo said, as Tails helped her to her feet. She'd lost the flip-flops, but no one noticed.

"Cosmo?!?" Amy screamed again. "You're not dead? You're not a robot?"

Cosmo shook her head. "No, Amy, I'm alive."

Amy stared at her. "But…but we thought…" She gritted her teeth. "You had us all crying our eyes out for you! And you weren't dead?!"

"But I was, Amy," Cosmo assured her, taking a couple of steps towards her. "I really was. I know that sounds strange, but…"

"Cosmo!" Cream sobbed, throwing her arms around the Seedrian. "You're alive! You're alive!"

"Please don't cry, Cream," Cosmo begged, stroking her friend's hair. "You're going to make me cry!"

"I don't know what to say," Vanilla said hoarsely. "I…how are you feeling, dear?"

"A little tired," Cosmo admitted. "But very happy." _She doesn't hate me! Cream still wants to be my friend! _Despite her attempts to hold back her tears, they began to make trails down her face.

"Hmm," Vector said to Espio and Charmy. "Very interesting!"

"Of course it's very interesting," Espio said, trying to keep his face blank, although the moment was starting to get to him. "It's a miracle!"

"Yeah," Charmy said. "Now it's really a party!" He blew a noisemaker right in Vector's ear.

"Not so fast!" Vector said, swatting the noisemaker away. "There's something suspicious about this!"

Amy was still staring at Cosmo. The plant girl looked nervously at her. "Amy? It's me! It's really me!" She held out her hand. Amy looked down at it. "Why is your hand bandaged?"

"I cut myself," Cosmo said, making a face. "Isn't that just like me? Back only a few minutes, and already having clumsy accidents!" She laughed nervously. Then she gasped as Amy grabbed her wrist. "Amy? What are you doing?"

Amy stared at Cosmo's hand. She ran her index finger across it. "Hmm…" she said.

"What?" Cosmo asked. "Amy…"

"What are you doing, Amy?" Tails demanded, hurrying over to them.

"Quiet, both of you!" Amy said. "Same lines as far as I can see. The bandage is in the way though. Let me see your other hand."

"All right," Cosmo said, holding out her other hand. Amy examined it carefully. Then she placed her hand on Cosmo's chin. She stared into her eyes.

"Open your mouth," Amy said.

Tails clenched his fists. "Leave her alone, Amy!" he said. "I mean it!"

Cosmo opened her mouth. "Wider," Amy said. She peered inside.

"Uhahoooig, Ehee?" Cosmo asked. Tails wasn't sure, but it sounded like she was trying to say "What are you doing, Amy?"

"You have a missing tooth in back," Amy said. "The same tooth Cosmo was missing." She blinked. "It-it is you! You're really Cosmo!"

"Yes," the plant girl said, her voice hoarse. "It's really me, Amy."

Amy threw her arms around Cosmo, lifting her off her feet. She swung her around and around. "You're alive! You're alive! You're alive!"

"Uh…thank you for believing me," Cosmo said, "but I'm getting dizzy."

Amy clutched Cosmo to her and started wailing like a baby.

"Okay, _I'm_ embarrassed," Knuckles muttered. Rouge giggled. Knuckles turned around from her and faced the wall.

"Uh…you through yet, Amy?" Sonic asked.

Amy, finally realizing she was making a scene, let go of Cosmo and rubbed at her eyes. Since she was wearing eye shadow for the party, this was not a good idea. Amy now looked something like a raccoon.

"So did you miss us a lot while you were gone, Cosmo?" Amy asked, trying to act cool.

"Oh yes, very much," Cosmo said, looking about her. She wondered about the people she'd never met before, but decided it might be rude to ask who they were. "I used to look down on you often, my friends."

"You looked down on us?" Rouge asked. "That sounds kind of rude." She grinned, showing her fangs.

"Where were you looking down at us from?" Charmy asked.

Cosmo smiled. "Heaven."

Everyone except Tails and Sonic stared at her. Cosmo looked at Tails. "I guess I shouldn't have mentioned I was in Heaven, huh?"

"Uh…probably not right off the bat, no," Sonic suggested.

Cosmo bowed her head. "I am sorry for upsetting all of you, my friends. If it makes you feel any better, I remember very little of what happened to me while I was dead."

Now everyone except Tails, Sonic, and Cream were backing away a little. Tails put his arm around Cosmo. "Come on, you guys!" he said. "Cosmo's back with us! You're all acting like she's some kind of…of…"

"Vampire?" Amy suggested.

"She's not a vampire!" Tails insisted.

"Well, better safe than sorry," Amy said, reaching into her collar. She pulled out a cross on a gold chain and held it right in Cosmo's face. "Does this bother you in any way?"

"No," Cosmo said, confused. "I think it's very pretty, Amy."

Tails pushed Amy's arm away. "She is _not _a vampire!" Tails cried. He put his other arm around Cosmo. "Leave her alone, Amy!"

"Whoa, calm down, little buddy!" Sonic said, stepping between Tails and Amy. "She didn't mean anything. You got to admit, this is all kind of overwhelming."

Cream had watched all of this without saying anything. Once, she would have rushed to defend Cosmo, but it had just hit her what Cosmo's return meant. The tears of joy that were already rolling down her cheeks were joined by tears of another kind as she watched Tails put his arm around the plant girl.

_What's wrong with me? Cosmo's my friend! And she came back! I'm happy for her, but…why does my heart hurt? _When Tails put his other arm around Cosmo, she knew. _I lost him. No. No, I never had him at all. Mom warned me, but I wouldn't listen. _

"What's a…vampire?" Cosmo asked.

"The walking dead," Charmy said. "You know, neither really dead nor really alive." He held his arms out stiffly and walked like a robot.

Cosmo watched Charmy for a minute, then turned back to Amy. "You…you think I'm a walking corpse?!?"

"Or possessed," Sonic suggested.

"Possessed?" Cosmo said. "You mean like when I took over Cream's body?"

Now everybody really looked at her funny.

"She's not possessed!" Tails cried. "It's not funny, Amy!"

Amy bit her lip. "I wasn't being funny, Tails. I just wanted to be sure…"

"Sometimes I think Amy's possessed," Vector muttered to Espio. They were still by the front door.

The chameleon motioned for him to be quiet. But Amy had excellent hearing.

"Are you saying I'm crazy?!?" Amy said, piko-piko hammer suddenly in hand.

"Okay, she's definitely scarier than Cosmo," Vector said, backing into the doorway, ready to run if Amy came any closer.

"I'm still the same person I used to be," Cosmo sobbed, burying her head in Tails' chest fur. "I'm not a monster! I'm not!"

"Of course you aren't!" Tails assured her, patting her on the back. He glared at Amy. "Now look what you've done! Shh…it's okay, Cosmo. Please don't cry."

Amy took a step towards them. As Tails' eyes narrowed further, she held her hands up defensively. "Hey, hey! Calm down, both of you. I didn't mean anything by it. Come on, Cosmo. Still friends?"

"Of course," Cosmo said. "I just don't want to be a bother to anyone."

Amy pulled her away from Tails and crushed her in a bear hug. "Let's not start that again!" she cried.  
"Amy…can't breath…" Cosmo gasped.

"Well, that's a good sign," Amy said, loosening her grip. "Vampires don't need to breath." She motioned to Cream. "Come on! Team Rose group hug!"

Cream rubbed at her eyes, then threw her arms around both of them.

_She won fair and square. I won't be angry with her! I won't!_

The others finally began to move towards them, welcoming her back.

"Thank you!" Cosmo sobbed. "Thank you, one and all!"

"Don't mention it," Knuckles said, patting her on the head. "Glad to see you're back okay, Cosmo. Don't scare us like that again, okay?"

"Yeah, what he said," Rouge said.

"Good to be back," Cosmo said.

"It's wonderful to see you again, dear," Vanilla said, putting her arms around Cosmo. "We only knew each other for such a short time, but Cream has told me so much about you, I feel like we've been with us for months."

"I felt the same way about you while we were on the Blue Typhoon," Cosmo said, hugging Cream's mother back. "Your daughter told me so much about you, I felt like I knew you very well."

After she'd said hello to all of the people she already knew, a hedgehog she hadn't seen before suddenly grabbed her hand and shook it. "Hi, pleased to meet you, I'm Anita."

"Uh…Cosmo," the plant girl said, bowing her head. "I'm sorry, but…we haven't met, have we?"

Anita looked over at Sonic. "Sonic didn't tell you about me?" she asked. "I'm his sister."

Cosmo blushed. "Oh, that's right! I'm sorry! He told me about you a few minutes ago!"

"A few minutes ago?" Anita said, pouting. "And you guys were in a ship for how long together, seeing each other every day?"

"Uh…didn't see any reason to mention you on the Blue Typhoon," Sonic said. "My bad."

Anita pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him. "Bleh!"

"Oh yeah?" Sonic said, pulling down both eye lids, crossing his eyes, and sticking his tongue out. "Well nyah to you!"

"You win," Anita said, "you're uglier!"

Cosmo had been looking from Sonic to Anita and back again, her expression showing she didn't have the slightest idea what was going on. _Wait. He did mention her a few minutes ago, didn't he? I'm going to have to stop daydreaming and pay attention to what people are saying to me._

"Hey, that's pretty good," Sonic said, giving his sister a thumbs-up. "I've done a good job of corrupting you, sis!"

"You're joking, aren't you, Sonic?" Cosmo asked. "You don't really want to corrupt your little sister, do you?"

"Huh?" Sonic said. He waved his hands nervously. "No! I was just kidding. You need to learn not to take everything so seriously, Cosmo."

"Oh yeah, you're Cosmo all right," Amy said. "Just can't stand seeing anybody fight, even if they don't mean it."

"I used to fight with my sisters sometimes," Cosmo said, her eyes suddenly looking far away. "I wish I hadn't now. They know I'm sorry about it, but still…"

Sonic looked at Anita. He'd very nearly lost her for good, the same way Cosmo had lost her sisters. "Sorry 'bout that, okay?"

"No biggy, bro," Anita said. She turned back to Cosmo. "But don't mind us. Nikki and me have always fought like this. It's what we do."

"Like Sonic and Knuckles," Cosmo said softly."So…you enjoy fighting with people that you care about, Sonic?"

"I don't care about him!" Sonic and Knuckles both said at the same time.

Everyone except Cosmo laughed. "Don't expect guys to admit feelings," Amy said. "The male animal considers that a sign of weakness."

Cosmo looked down at her feet. "Yes," she said quietly. "I suppose…in some way, animals and plants aren't really all that different."

"Hey, that's right," Vector said. "Those Metarex crumb bums were male…whatever you guys are."

Vanilla winced. "Vector, may I have a word with you, please?"

"Sure," Vector said. The rabbit went into Tails' kitchen, the croc following.

"He's in the doghouse again," Amy muttered.

"Huh?" Cosmo said. "Doghouse?"

"Later," Amy assured her. She leaned over the younger girl and hissed, "I'll explain it to you after the party. Let's just say, sometimes guys need to be given…proper direction on how to behave." She looked over at Sonic. "Because most guys don't grasp the whole concept of manners."

Cosmo stared blankly at her. "What?"

"Never mind," Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Cosmo," Charmy said, floating over to her. He had his arm around another bee. "This is Saffron. Saffron, this is Cosmo."

Saffron bowed. "Pleased to meet you," she said.

Cosmo bowed back. "Pleased to meet you," she said. "Are you Charmy's sister?"

Saffron gasped. Charmy sweat dropped. "No," the female bee said. "We're not related."

"Oh," Cosmo said, blushing. "You're his girlfriend. Sorry. I'm a little slow sometimes. Please don't mind me."

"Oh, no," Saffron said. "That's all right. You couldn't have known. We'd barely met when he took off into space with his friends."

"Speaking of friends," Espio said, hoping to change the subject, "I'd like to introduce our part time members, Mighty and Ray."

"Pleasure to meet you, miss," Mighty the armadillo said, bowing. He nudged Ray.

"Ow!" Ray said, rubbing his arm. "What'd you hit me for, Mighty?" Mighty leaned over and whispered something in the squirrel's ear. "Oh, right." He bowed. "Pleased to meetcha."

"Pleased to meet all of you," Cosmo said, bowing. "I hope we'll all become good friends."

"I'm sure we will," Mighty said. "Right, way?"

"Uh…yeah," Ray said. He gave her two thumbs up. "Totally!"

"Ahem," Julie-Su said, nudging Knuckles."

"You should do something about that cough," Knuckles said.

Julie-Su stepped on Knuckles' foot as she crossed the room and shook Cosmo's hand. "I'm Julie-Su. Heard a lot about you from Knuckles."

"Hello," Cosmo said, bowing her head. "Good to meet you."

"Hey, I was going to introduce you two!" Knuckles said.

"We can't wait for spring," Julie-Su muttered. "In case he hasn't mentioned, I'm sort of his girlfriend."

"No way!" Rouge said, knocking Knuckles back against the couch. "He's my guy!"

"Oh dear," Cosmo said. "Please don't fight."

Rouge and Julie-Su looked daggers at each other, then turned away, Rouge stepping to the left of the couch, Julie-Su to the right.

****

Bokkun had returned to Eggman's hideout after his incident in Cream's kitchen. He looked around, wondering where the big man was. He flew to a security door.

"Password?" the door said in a tinny voice.

"Sonic's a slowpoke!" Bokkun said. The password was simple, and a lie, of course, but it was the sort of crude, childish joke a petty man like the doctor enjoyed.

"Password confirmed," the door, sliding open. "Have a nice day."

"Uh, yeah," Bokkun said, walking through the door. "You too, uh…door."

The door slammed shut behind him. Bokkun jumped, then reminded himself that happened every time he went through the door. He passed several large machines, the functions of which he could only guess, but didn't really want to. A huge press opened, giving off a disgusting steam that nauseated him, even though he was a robot. There were too many steel pipes overhead for him to fly in the factory. His feet made soft clanking sounds as he walked.

Bokkun came at last to the doctor's main lab. This one had no password. The doctor didn't want anyone getting in when he wasn't there, and when he was, no one entered without him opening the door for them. Bokkun pressed a buzzer and waited.

A mechanical red eye finally switched on. No matter how many times Bokkun saw it, it still gave him the creeps. "Don't do that!"

"What do you want, you ninny?" came Eggman's raspy voice. "I didn't summon you!"

"Sorry, your immenseness," Bokkun said. "I just wanted to know if you would be needing me for anything today. Otherwise, I thought I'd just…er, look for somebody to annoy." He wasn't about to mention that Cream and her mother were doing a lot of cooking, no doubt for a big party. That was just the sort of thing that Eggman might decide to crash just for the sheer meanness of ruining somebody's fun.

Eggman snarled. "Get lost, you freeloader! I don't have time for you today!"

"What?" Bokkun cried. "Of all the gratitude! And after I came all this way, too!" Oh, wait. He wanted to get out of there, didn't he? He clamped his hand over his big mouth and hurried back across the factory. Maybe he'd get to Cream's house in time to snatch some food that hadn't been ruined. He had no doubt that lousy Cheeseball had pulled some kind of a trick on him! Well, he'd show him how to play tricks!

"Where are you going, Bokkun?" Decoe demanded as the little messenger robot left the factory.

"Yes, we can tell that you're up to something," Bocoe added.

"Uh…nothing!" Bokkun said, grinning sheepishly.

"You're going to go hang out with Sonic and his goody-goody friends, aren't you?" Decoe demanded. "You know the doctor will be angry."

"He might decide to have you taken apart and reconstructed into a toaster or something," Bocoe said.

Bokkun made a face. Those two were idiots, but they were starting to catch on. If they ever told the doctor how much time he was spending hanging around Cream and the others, let alone that he had a crush on her, Cream would be in trouble, and he'd be in no shape to help her.

Bokkun dug through his bag. Ah! He pulled out a tv set. "I'm just going to give this to Sonic," he said. "I…recorded the doctor yelling at me, and erased my name, so it'll sound like he's yelling at Sonic. And then…ka-boom!"

"Oh, well then, that's different," Bocoe said.

"See you around, Bokkun," Decoe said.

"Yeah, um…so you two keep watch and make sure Sonic doesn't break in here!" Bokkun said, hurrying away. Phew! He didn't know how much longer he could keep seeing Cream and not get into big trouble. He did know that he had a big decision to make, and needed to make it soon.

Back in his lab, Eggman connected several servers to the center of the project he was working on, a large red and grey robot. "Finally!" he gloated. "My greatest E-Series creation, is nearly completed! Tails thinks he's nearly my equal, but I'll bet it never occurred to him to 'borrow' Metarex technology to build a better robot! After this, there'll be no need for me to build another, so I should give him a name that describes his role in the future of Mobius!" He stroked his mustache. "Hm…Apocalypse? No, too difficult to spell. Oblivion? Nah, sounds like a hair care product!" His eyes narrowed as he grinned. "I know! Continuing from Alpha, Beta, and Gamma and the others, I'll just jump down to the end of the alphabet. Omega! Yes! You shall be the last and the greatest of my creations! Mwahahahahahah!"

It would only be later that Bokkun would notice the doctor was taking things much more seriously than he had been.

****

Vanilla and Vector returned from the kitchen. Charmy left Saffron to fly over to the croc.

"Miss Vanilla got on your case for being tactless again?" he asked.

Vector placed his hand over Charmy's mouth. "Charmy's such a kidder, isn't he, Espio?"

The chameleon looked away. "I am not getting involved in this, Vector."

"Here," Sonic said, hoping to change the subject. He had been cooking hot dogs and chili, and now handed Cosmo a chili dog. "Your first chili dog. See what you think." He said it like he was offering her a solid gold crown.

Cosmo looked at it. "This is a chili dog?" She looked at it carefully. "Does it always have cheese and onions in it?"

"Nope, only if you want to make them right," Sonic said.

"Oh," Cosmo said. She took a bite. "It's nice."

"Nice?" Sonic said, staring at her. "Nice?! Chili dogs aren't nice! They're stupendous! Colossal!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cosmo said. "Of course they are!"

"Now I see what your problem is, Amy," Vector said to the pink hedgehog. "Sonic doesn't notice you because he's in love with chili dogs."

Amy glared at the croc. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! There's no way that…" She watched as Sonic picked up a chili dog. He looked at it the same way Knuckles did when he was talking about the Master Emerald. Vector was nutty as a fruitcake, but maybe he had another point besides the one on the top of his head.

"Tails?" Cosmo whispered, holding up the chili dog. "What is this exactly?"

Tails thought about it for a moment. "Uh…probably best to not ask what's in a hot dog," he said at last.

Cosmo's eyes grew big. She looked at it. "Should I really be eating it then?"

"Not if you don't want to," Tails assured her.

"Oh, I couldn't hurt Sonic's feelings," Cosmo insisted, taking another bite. "It's pretty good, actually."

Vanilla walked over to Cosmo. "Do you have a place to stay, dear?"

"What?" Cosmo said. "Oh, well, I…I thought that…um…" she looked over at Tails.

Vanilla noticed and smiled sadly, gently shaking her head. "I'm sorry, dear, but I don't think Tails' parents would approve."

Cosmo blushed. "Oh! Oh, of…of course."

"Cream was coming over to my place tonight for a slumber party," Amy said, "so you can join us."

"I thought you were afraid that she was a vampire," Knuckles kidded.

"I think you've got your own problems to worry about," Amy pointed out. She had put on music for everyone to dance to, just as Rouge and Julie-Su returned from getting punch.

"Here, Knuckie, have some," Rouge said, holding a cup in front of his face.

"They're playing our song!" Julie-Su told him. "Let's dance!"  
"Oops!" Rouge said, pouring her punch on Julie-Su. "Clumsy me!"

"My dress!" Julie-Su yelled. "Knuckles, say something!"

"Uh…that's too bad?" Knuckles said.

"Oops!" Julie-Su said, spilling her punch on Rouge's head. "Oh, my, how did that happen?"

"That did it!" Rouge yelled, leaping into the air. "Screw kick!" She began to spin like a top as she shot down from the ceiling towards the echidna girl. Julie-Su dodged at the last second. Knuckles didn't quite make it. He went flying backwards, turned a flip, and landed on his face, sliding across Tails' rug into the coffee table.

"You hit Knuckles, you witch!" Julie-Su yelled, leaping at Rouge.  
"You got out of the way, you coward!" Rouge cried, jumping out of the way and starting to spin in the air again. "Screw kick!"

"Not in my house," Tails cried, as everything in the living room started to fly around, pulled by the wind the bat was creating.

"My chili dogs!" Sonic cried as he watched the food go flying. Pretzels, cheese puffs, peanuts, potato and corn chips, all flew about the room. Amy and Cream squealed as punch splattered them. Sonic ran about wildly, grabbing chili dogs first, then trying to catch the rest of the food.

"Somebody stop her!" Tails cried, as the punch bowl bonked him upside the head, sending him falling onto his easy chair face first. The chair flipped over.

"Stop!" Cream sobbed as more punch hit her in the back. "I've had enough punch please, thank you!" She looked around. "Where's Cheese?"

"Chao chao chao chao chao!" Cheese cried, spinning about Rouge like a moon around a planet.

"Vector, do something!" Vanilla cried as she grabbed her daughter and dived behind the couch.

"It was a windy day," Vector said, watching everything spin, about the living room. "I had been sent to investigate a party held for a classy dame along the waterfront…"

"Oh cool, Vector's lost it," Charmy said from his position behind a foot stool.

"Ow!" Ray cried as he was hit by pretzels, then walnuts, then m&m's. "Mighty, do something!" The armadillo threw himself in front of the squirrel.

"This is a little more than I signed up for, Vector!" Mighty said as he was buffeted by food.

Cosmo tried to help Tails out of the chair. The wind blew her over and she landed on top of him. "Sorry!" she cried.

"Mom, I got to get Cheese!" Cream sobbed, struggling to climb out from behind the couch. Her mother held her tight, but Cream was so strong, she began to drag her across the floor.

"Cream! Honey, you're giving Mommy rug burns!" Vanilla cried.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Mom!" Cream said, just before they were both covered with cheese puffs.

"That does it!" Sonic yelled, throwing himself into Rouge's wind. He allowed it to carry him right to the bat, and tripped her. Rouge spun about once in her own wind. Then it died, and she fell on her face.

"My house!" Tails cried, looking around. Food was everywhere: the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the furniture, his guests. "Cosmo! Are you okay?"

"I think so," Cosmo said. She was covered with punch, and chips, candy, and other snacks were stuck to her back.

"Cheese! Where are you?" Cream sobbed. The little chao flew over to her, so covered with snacks he looked like a granola bar.

"Chao chao!" Cheese wailed. "Chaaaooooooooo!!!"

"You idiot!" Julie-Su said, kicking Rouge where she lay. "You've ruined Tails' house!" She looked up at Knuckles. "Well? Do you still prefer this floozy?"

"What did you call me?!?" Rouge yelled, swiping the echidna's feet out from under her.

"That's enough!" Knuckles yelled, waving his fist. "Am I going to have to get tough with both of you?" This, of course, was a serious mistake. Rouge and Julie-Su proceeded to beat the tar out of him.

"You sure do throw a lively party, little buddy," Sonic said, eating a punch soaked chili dog.

"How can you make jokes about this?!" Tails cried, picking food off of Cosmo's back. "Look at my house! Look at Cosmo!"

"I feel like an apple tree," Cosmo said as Tails continued to pick chips and puffs off of her. "But shouldn't someone help Knuckles?"

"He needs to learn not to invite two girls out on the same date," Amy said, picking popcorn out of her hair. "Don't try to help him, Cosmo. You'll just get yourself beat up too. And he deserves it, anyway."

Cosmo shook her head. "No one deserves to be beaten," Cosmo said. She made a face. "Did I really help you and Cream attack him last year? I must not have been thinking straight."

"You attacked me too!" Charmy pointed out. "And Espio. And Vector. Of course, Vector kidnapped Cream, so you guys are even there."

"Right," Vector said, nodding his head. "I kidnapped Cream, so…hey, shut up!"

"You did what?!?" Vanilla cried. She had been trying to pull out the food stuck to Cream's ears.

"Uh…well, I thought you'd want her to come home," Vector said. "You know, 'cause she was your baby, and she was gone for such a long time, and…"

Vanilla shook her head. "We are going to have to have another long talk later, Vector."

"Thanks a lot, Charmy!" Vector said.

"You're welcome," the bee said, grinning.

"I'm going home!" Saffron said. "My hair and my dress are ruined! Good bye, everybody!" She flew off towards the front door, Charmy following her.

"Oh, dear," Cosmo said, watching them leave. Then she turned and looked at Knuckles, who was just picking himself up off the floor. Julie-Su was pretending not to look at him.

"I am so out of here!" Rouge said, walking past them. When she reached Tails and Cosmo, she turned to the plant girl and said, "You have any sense, you'll keep your fox boy on a short leash."

"I beg your pardon?" Cosmo said, picking a sour ball out of her hair.

Rouge flicked her hair, which would normally have been easier to do, since it was now sticky with punch. "Keep him away from other girls if you don't want him cheating on you!"

Cosmo gasped. She straightened her shoulders and raised herself up as high as she could without getting on tiptoe. "I trust Tails completely!" she said.

"A woman who trusts a man is a fool!" Rouge insisted, walking past her.

Cosmo bit her lip. "That's not true!" she cried. "Don't insult Tails, just because you can't make Knuckles happy!"

Rouge stopped in midstep. She spun around on her heel. "What did you just say?"

"Cosmo…" Tails said, placing his hand on her shoulder. He shook his head, but she didn't notice.

"I don't believe that men are like that!" Cosmo said. "And Knuckles is a good person. If he doesn't love you, that's not his fault. I saw you hitting him just now, you and…" She looked over at Julie-Su, trying to remember her name. Jewel? No, that didn't sound right. She looked back at Rouge. "Maybe you just don't know how to treat a man right!"

The house became so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

"What…did…you…SAY TO ME?!?" Rouge demanded, shrieking the last three words in Cosmo's face.

"Oh dear, that was rude of me, wasn't it?" Cosmo said.

Rouge took a step towards Cosmo. "Who do you think you are, lecturing me?!? I'm not taking that from some weird alien plant thing!"

Tails stepped in front of Cosmo. "You leave her alone!" he cried. Rouge growled at him. Tails caught a whiff of her breath. She smelled like beer. "You're drunk!"

"Stay out of this, boy," Rouge said, giving Tails a push that sent him colliding with the table the food had been on before the bat had sent it flying all over the place. "This is between me and the rosebush! You think--you think you're better than me?"

Cosmo took a step back. "What? No, I never said that."  
"Put up your dukes," Rouge said, raising her fists.

"Please, Cosmo said, backing up further. "I don't want to fight."

"Okay, that's enough, Rouge," Sonic said, grabbing the bat's arm. "I think you need to go someplace and sleep it off."

Rouge pushed Sonic into Amy. They went crashing to the floor together. "Mind your own business!" Rouge said, turning back to Cosmo. "You little spy!" she yelled. "Letting that freak Dark Oak know everything we were doing!"

Cosmo turned pale. "That wasn't my fault!" she sobbed. "I didn't want to tell him anything! I couldn't help it! But you, you helped Dr. Eggman on purpose!"

"Shut up!" Rouge yelled.

"Please stop this," Cosmo begged. "Haven't you ever wondered if maybe your temper is hurting your relationship with Knuckles?"

Rouge slapped Cosmo's face. "Hey!" Tails cried, taking a swing at her. Rouge dodged and sent Tails crashing into the table again. This time, it turned over, knocking Tails to the floor.

"Tails!" Cosmo cried, trying to run to him. Rouge grabbed her by the hair.

"What's the matter?" the bat demanded. "Can't defend the guy you love?"

Cosmo glared at Rouge. The house began to shake. Then the floor burst open. Vines came up, grabbing Rouge, and lifting her into the air.

"If you want to fight me, go ahead," Cosmo cried, "but I won't let you hurt Tails!"

"You can't hold me!" Rouge yelled, struggling violently. "I'll break free in a minute, and when I do…"

"You won't do anything!" Sonic said. "Let her go, Cosmo. She's out of control. I'm taking her to jail!"

"No!" Rouge shrieked, breaking free. She flapped her wings, rising to the ceiling. "Now, I'm going to…" She suddenly collapsed. Sonic caught her just before she hit the floor. Her eyes were spinning around and around.

"Tails!" Cosmo cried, helping the fox to his feet. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Tails said. "What's wrong with Rouge?"

"I don't feel so good," Rouge said. She looked around, her eyes not focusing on anything.

Amy stepped around a vine and walked up to Sonic and Rouge. "You've ruined Cosmo's welcome home party, you freak!" Rouge responded by throwing up on her. "Ahhh!!! Ewww!!!" Amy backed away, feeling nauseous. "My dress!"

"I'm sorry!" Cosmo sobbed. "I didn't know she was sick!"

"I feel awful!" Rouge moaned. "Why is the room spinning?"

"It's okay," Sonic said to the bat. "I'll take you to the hospital. I'll be back, everybody." Sonic was gone in a blur of motion.

****

Merlin awoke to find himself in a small room, painted a dull grayish-green. He sat up, extremely confused. "Where am I?" He looked around for his cane, but didn't see it. "No! There's no telling what harm someone could cause with my staff! I have to get it!" He leaned on the bed post to push himself to his feet. What had happened? The last he'd remembered, he'd seen a soldier or guardsman and asked him for help. Why was he wearing yellow coveralls?!?

"Oh, good! You're awake!" a blue jay called, entering the room. "And how are we today?"

"Where am I?" Merlin demanded. "Is this the palace?'

"If you want it to be," the girl said. "I'm Treble, pleased to meet you, Mister…"

"Prower," Merlin said. "Miles Prower."

"Of course, I can see the resemblance," Treble said. "You're a relative of Miles, aren't you?"

"You know my nephew?" Merlin asked. "Please, can you tell me where I am?"

Treble smiled at him. "Don't worry, you're in a safe place," she said. "Would you like to watch a movie? There's a nice one playing in the common room now."

"What?!?" Merlin cried. Despite his back problem, he hurried from the room. He found himself standing in a long corridor. "Oh no," he whispered. He turned back to the blue jay. "I have to get out of here!"

"Now, now, Mister Prower," Treble said, placing her hands on his shoulders. "You just calm yourself, and I'll get your doctor. What's his or her name, please?"

Merlin shut his eyes and concentrated. He could feel the power around him, but without his staff, the effort of using chaos control would be severely debilitating, if not fatal at his age. "My staff…" he said. "I need my staff!"

"That dirty old walking stick that was brought in with you?" Treble asked, making a face as she guided him back to his bed. "I'll get you a nice new cane, sir. That thing was filthy."

Merlin sputtered as she forced him to sit on the bed. "But I need it! It's value is inestimable!"

"Yes, yes, that's nice," the girl said, not listening. "Now you just stay put while I get a doctor. Please don't go wandering around by yourself, sir. You might run into Henry, and he isn't a very nice person I'm afraid. Oh, not that he'd hurt you of course, but he might decide to strap you down to the bed."

"I have to speak to my nephew!" Merlin called as Treble hurried away. "Please! It's extremely important!"

But the nurse was already gone. Merlin sighed. Well, surely a doctor would be more reasonable.

"Ah, you're just in time for your manicure!" Merlin looked up to see a girl with a blank smile enter his room. She was carrying beautician instruments in a box. She sat down next to him on the bed and took his hand. She started filing his nails.

"My good lady," Merlin said, staring at her in shock, "I don't have time for this! The whole world may be in terrible danger!"

"Well that's no excuse for having grubby nails!" the young woman said. "I was just telling my girlfriend this the other day, I said 'Gladys, the problem with the world these days is that no one considers common niceties like proper hygienics important anymore.' And that's really such a pity, don't you think?"

Merlin shut his eyes. Something told him this was going to be a very, very long day.

****

Tails sighed as he righted his lamp. "I'm sorry Cosmo," he said. "I wanted your return to be special!"

"That's all right, Tails," Cosmo said, brushing food off the coffee table. "Do you have a broom?"

"I'll get it, dear," Vanilla offered. "Come help me, Vector." Vector looked like he was about to argue, then changed his mind and followed her.

"Wow, Cosmo," Cream said. "Since when could you do that? I mean, you did it one time, but you had a planet egg, and you said you couldn't do it without one."

Cosmo shook her head. "I have no idea, Cream," she admitted. "I guess I've gone through some changes since then."

Sonic returned about a minute later, looking disgusted.

"What happened?" Knuckles demanded, looking around. "Where is she?"  
"It was all a con!" Sonic said, sitting down in a chair. He folded his arms. "I was about halfway to the hospital when she suddenly kicked me in the face and flew off, shouting "And the Oscar goes to me!"

"I knew it!" Julie-Su said. "I told you not to believe a word she said, Knuckles!"

"What a liar!" Amy yelled, piko-piko hammer suddenly in hand. "I ought to go track her down, and…"

"Whoa, hey," Sonic said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't want to get into a fight with that girl. She's dangerous!"

"So am I," Amy insisted. "But I'm sure we can get her later. Okay, everybody! Party's back on!"

"Uh…but there are giant vines, and big holes in the floor," Espio pointed out. "And the food is all over the place. And us."

"You're right," Amy said, considering this. "Hmm…party at my house! Let's go!"

"Don't be silly," Sonic said. "We're going to fix up Tails' place before we do anything else, right, everybody?"  
"Oo, look at the time," Vector said, looking at his wrist. It might have been more convincing if he'd been wearing a watch. One look from Vanilla, and he froze in his tracks. "Never mind."

As everyone cleaned, Cosmo walked up to the vines and shut her eyes. _Go back. Please go back! Please!_ She heard a rumbling. Opening her eyes, she watched the vines go back under the floor. But the floor was still broken.

"Well, I fixed part of the problem, anyway," Cosmo said, wiping perspiration from her forehead.

"Good work, Cosmo!" Tails said, patting her shoulder. "You're getting better at it."

"Yes, but…your poor floor, Tails," Cosmo said, pouting.

"No problemo," Sonic said. "I'll get some board and nails and we can have the floor fixed up good as new in a jiffy! I'm off!"

"See?" Tails said, putting his arm around Cosmo. "Everything's going to work out fine. And we'll still have that party yet, right, Cream?"

"Yeah," Cream said, watching Tails hug Cosmo for a moment, then suddenly becoming very busy with sweeping. "We'll have a…great welcome home party for you, Cosmo." She turned away, hoping no one would see the tears that suddenly filled her eyes.

Miles away, Rouge landed heavily in a tree. "Well, you've sure done it this time, you moron!" she cursed herself. "Who would have thought that wimpy little Cosmo had that kind of power?" She fumed, wondering what would be the best way to get even. "I could tell Eggman she's alive, but I promised Knuckles I wouldn't have any more dealings with him." She bit her lip. "Not that it really matters anymore, though. I doubt he'll speak to me again after this."

"I'm not even sure why I did it. Guess she's right. I really have been blowing it, trying to make him choose me over that stupid echidna girl by yelling at him and punching him out when he sees her. Yeah, but She had no business just saying it to my face like that! How rude! We're not even friends, either!" She clenched her teeth. "She'll be sorry she ruined my relationship with him, though. Very sorry. I'm gonna get that little green flower fairy. Get her good!"

*****

Far off in space, a figure in red armor laughed. "One that might have been your friend is now your enemy!" he said. "I wonder how many more can be turned against you, little Cosmo? How many times will your heart ache before I come for you?"

"Master?" Willow said, approaching him. "I have just received an important message. 'All is in readiness, Red King. Awaiting your final orders.'"

Red Pine rubbed his hands together. "Perfect timing! Relay this message back: 'Take the item of power any way necessary. Destroy all opposition! Just bring it back to me!'"

Willow bowed. "As you wish, Master." She turned and hurried away.

Red Pine leaned back in his throne. "Soon! Soon I will show Dark Oak for the loser he truly was! And what of you, my beautiful Galaxina? Cold and dead for more than a year now. But you can still hear me, can't you? And you know what is about to happen. Yes, you know only too well. Hahahahah!"

And from farther than the most distant galaxy, yet, at the same time, as close as the next heartbeat, Galaxina looked down on the madman she had once loved…and cried.

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5: Telling The Truth

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Five

"Telling The Truth"

Between Sonic's speed, Knuckles', Vector's, and Mighty's muscles, and Tails' workshop and engineering skills, they had the floors in both the living room and Tails' study repaired in no time. Of course, Vanilla had to urge Vector to help them twice, but they soon had the floors as good as new.

"O-kay!" Amy cried, turning the music back on. "The party's on again!"

"Yeah," Knuckles said moodily, looking out the window. Julie-Su walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey," she said, still looking a bit annoyed. "Don't tell me you miss that Rouge?"

"Huh?" Knuckles said, quickly turning towards the echidna girl. "No, of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?" He grinned sheepishly.

Julie-Su grabbed Knuckles by the wrist and dragged him across the room. "Then let's dance!"

Amy threw herself at Sonic. "Let's go, Sonikku!"

Sonic tried to pull away, but Amy held on for dear life. He finally sighed and danced with her.

"Uh…Miss Vanilla?" Vector said nervously. He was sweating badly.

"Yes, Vector?" the rabbit said, doing a last bit of dusting on the mantel.

"Uh…would you like to…er…um…dance?" the croc finally managed to sputter, his normal gift for gab totally gone at the moment.

Vanilla smiled. "I would be delighted," she said, curtsying. Vector bowed. Conk! Cosmo, standing by the refreshment table, which Sonic had just finished restocking, grimaced. She hadn't minded when she and Tails had bonked their heads together, but Miss Vanilla didn't seem in a good mood today. Of course, the flower girl hadn't known her for very long, but Vanilla had seemed much happier and nicer that day Tails had brought Cosmo to the bunny's home. Well, one of the things she remembered from the last several months was Vector's dating service. Vanilla was probably still angry with him about that Ginger girl. Watching him, Cosmo realized she couldn't hate him, but she doubted she'd feel quite so forgiving towards Ginger. Or that other girl…Fiona, wasn't it?

"I'll be right back," Tails said to Cosmo, gathering his tools. "Let me just return everything to my workshop."

"Oh, let me help you, Tails," Cosmo offered.

"That's okay," Tails said, "Espio is going to give me a hand. You should stay and get reacquainted with Cream and Amy again."

Cosmo leaned against him and whispered, "I'm afraid my presence might upset Cream."

Tails looked over at the bunny, who was sitting on the couch, and looked as if she were picking at the same string Cosmo had unraveled. "Cream needs to accept that whatever she thought she and I might have had just isn't going to happen," Tails whispered back. "She's your friend, and I have faith in the two of you working things out." He grinned at her. "Smile for me, okay? It might make you feel better."

Cosmo smiled. "That's what I used to say to you, when I…when I didn't think I was coming back. You smiled for me, even though you were hurting. It's only fair I return the favor the best I can now. Thank you, Tails. You always know just what to say to me." She watched Tails and Espio leave, then went over to the couch and sat down nervously beside Cream, wondering what to say to her. She noticed the little bunny was staring at the floor now.

"Hi, Cream, how are you today?" Cosmo asked, hoping to break the ice.

"Huh?" the little bunny said, turning to look at her. Their eyes met for just a moment. Cosmo saw mixed emotions. There was happiness and relief there, but also sorrow.

_She's glad I'm back, but she realizes what my return means, _Cosmo thought. _Oh, Cream, I never wanted to hurt you! _

Cream shook her head. "I'm okay," she said at last. She looked away, muttered something under her breath, then suddenly threw her arms around Cosmo. "I missed you so much! Please don't go away again!"

"I won't," Cosmo promised. Her eyes filled with tears. _You tried so hard to convince me I was making the wrong choice, Galaxina. I don't remember too much, but I definitely remember that. You knew I wanted to be here, with Cream, and Amy, and most of all, with Tails._

"Good," Cream said. "I'm going to hold you to that promise!"

Cosmo couldn't help but laugh. Her friend sounded so serious.

"You sure took a long time coming back," Cream said. "I thought you were staying where you were."

"I…had some things I had to work out…up there," Cosmo admitted. "I'm so sorry I worried you."

"You should be!" Cream said, patting her on the back. Cosmo was sitting on the edge of the sofa, and nearly fell over. Cream caught her and helped her up. "Sorry!" she said. "Wow, you're really real!"

"Yes, I am," Cosmo said, nodding. "So, is your mother still upset about Vector setting up Tails with that dreadful girl?" Cosmo asked. She blushed. "I'm sorry! It's none of my business!"

Cream shook her head. "No, that's okay. Mom just gets annoyed with him sometimes."

"Are you still angry with him for capturing you on the Blue Typhoon?" Cosmo asked.

Cream sighed. "Not really," she said. She made a face. "But if she keeps seeing him like she has been, then maybe…" She looked down at her feet. "I…I don't know if I want a…a stepfather." She bowed her head, and her left ear flopped into her face.

Cosmo pushed her ear back. "You're still hoping your father comes back one day," she said gently.

Cream nodded. She looked up into Cosmo's eyes. "Did you…did you see him? When you were…up there?" She looked at her desperately.

Cosmo shut her eyes, trying to remember. _Had_ she seen Cream's father? Heard anyone mention him? She couldn't remember anything about a rabbit. Finally, she opened her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Cream. If I saw him, or someone mentioned whether he was there or not, I…I just can't remember."

Cream placed her hands on Cosmo's shoulders. "If you didn't see him, then he might still be alive?" She sounded so hopeful. Even though Cream had said she barely remembered her dad, the plant girl could see that she wanted him back very much. Cosmo tried to picture herself walking home from school with Tails and Cream. Going into a house. Her house. Seeing her sisters. Her brother and sister-in-law. Her mother in the kitchen, not forced to stand all day and night in the yard. Her father coming home from work. All of the details her friends had told her about ordinary life while they were in space. But no matter how hard she tried, Lucas kept turning into Dark Oak in her mind's eye. Kept yelling at them. Hitting them. Telling them they were ungrateful fools who wouldn't listen to him.

Cosmo shook her head. "No!" she whimpered.

"What's wrong, Cosmo?" Cream asked. "Is something bothering you?"

"Come on, quit crying, both of you!" Amy said, returning to them after Sonic had managed to get away from her. He was across the room, eating a chili dog, talking to Mighty about something. But if Amy tried to grab him, he could be gone in a split-second. "I mean it! Stop crying before you guys start making me cry too!"

"I can't help it!" Cream sobbed.

"Me neither!" Cosmo admitted. She would never ask, but she suspected Cream was crying because she was happy and sad at the same time. And that made her feel the same way. Not that she didn't already have reason to feel bad. Not only had she harmed Cream, but there were so many secrets she was still keeping.

"I know what's wrong with you, Cosmo," Amy said. "You don't know what to do now that you don't have an obvious enemy to face anymore, do you?"

That was part of the problem, but only a part. "I thought I'd be happy when we destroyed all of the Metarex," Cosmo admitted, placing a hand on her heart. "But…but it's like I have an empty feeling inside of me now. Revenge was what kept me going, I suppose, but now that I've gotten it, I realize it didn't solve my problems. Everyone is still gone. Destroying them didn't bring back any of their victims. Just me." She shut her eyes. "I wished so much that I could bring my family back with me! But they…they didn't have any bodies they could return to!" Her lip started to quiver. "Why me? Why did I get the chance to live again? Out of all those millions?" She buried her head in her hands. "I'm not worthy! Someone else should have gotten to come back! Somebody important! Somebody without anger and hatred in their heart!"

Amy grabbed Cosmo's chin and pulled her face towards her. "Now you listen to me!" Amy said. "You saved the galaxy. You gave up your own life. You lost your family. You lost your self-respect. You were forced to be a spy for them. You merged your own body with that monster, knowing that once you did that, you couldn't escape from him. You looked death square in the eye, and you said, 'Fire on me, and bring peace to the galaxy!' Why you? Why not you? Who did the Metarex hurt more than you? Who went through more fighting them? You are the bravest person I have ever met."

Cosmo shook her head. "I wasn't brave," she whispered. "I was scared, Amy. I was so scared! Right up until the last moment, when I saw Sonic and Shadow coming towards me, I thought, 'Oh, please, Tails! Please find another way!'"

Amy gave her a big hug. "Being brave isn't about not being afraid," she said softly. "It's about doing the right thing, no matter how scared you are. Now I don't want to hear you put yourself down again, Cosmo! What do I have to do, smack you every time you start acting like this?"

Cosmo buried her face in Amy's shoulder. "Thank you!" she sobbed. "I'm sorry, but…but sometimes I just need to hear someone tell me I matter, I guess."

"You always have," Cream assured her. "And you always will. Now have a good cry, and then cheer up! You don't want Tails to see you like this, do you?" She sounded almost like she was ordering Cosmo not to cry in front of Tails. Looking into the bunny's brown eyes, Cosmo suspected she actually was doing that.

Cosmo shook her head. "No. No, I don't. I guess I'm just a silly fool, huh? I never will learn."

"Don't worry," Amy said, patting her on the back. "Big sister will take care of everything." She waited for a response, but Cosmo was staring at the mantel.

"Hey, Cosmo!" Amy said. "You spacing out again?"

"What?" Cosmo asked, turning towards Amy at the sound of her name. "I'm sorry, Amy. What did you say again?"

Amy shook her head. "It really is you," she said, giving Cosmo a hug. "If I had any doubts, I don't now." She gave Cosmo a very soft, gentle "punch" on the chin. Her eyes got misty and she had to blink back tears. "I said I'll give you some pjs to wear to my sleepover after the party."

Cosmo blinked. "Sleepover? I'm invited?"

Amy resisted the urge to smack her. "Of course, you big doofus!" Amy said, grinning ear to ear. "Still a lovable ditz, aren't you? Glad to see you haven't changed."

Cosmo smiled. "I'm glad I'm the same too, Amy," Cosmo assured her. "I'd hate to think I came back…strange. You'll tell me if I start acting weird, won't you?'

"You mean weird for you, or weird for other people?" Amy asked, giggling. Cosmo opened her mouth. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

Cosmo giggled. "You're right. I should be used to not fitting in by now."

"I don't fit in either," Anita said. She had been dancing with Charmy, and had just excused herself to join the other girls. "Hey, there," she said to Cosmo. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing all right," Cosmo said. "Thank you for asking."

"Wow, you're so polite," Anita said. She turned to Amy. "Unlike some people I could mention. Shall I assume you just forgot to invite me to the sleepover, Rosey?"

"Yes, you should, and don't call me that!" Amy told her.

Cosmo looked from Amy to Anita, then back to Amy again. "'Rosey?'"

Amy took a deep breath, letting it out as a snort. "When I was little, people called me Rosey the Rascal," Amy explained. "Didn't like it then, don't like it now. Do _not_ call me that, okay?"

Cosmo looked confused. "But it sounds cute, calling you Rosie." Noticing the look on the hedgehog's face, Cosmo held up her hands. "I mean…when we worked together in space, you called us Team Rose."

"That's not the same thing," Amy insisted. "People used to call me Rosey when they talked down to me. Princess Sally wouldn't let me join the Freedom Fighters, even though Tails was a member, because she said I was too immature." Her voice grew louder with each word. "Can you imagine that? Me? Immature?!"

"I can imagine that, Amy," Cosmo said. She shook her head and waved her hands. "No, wait, that didn't come out right!"

Anita laughed. "You're so funny!" She put her arm around the plant girl's shoulders. "I think we're going to get along great. And don't worry, I won't let you get beat up by big, bad…Rosey the Rascal!"

"Oh, snot to you!" Amy yelled.

"Please don't fight," Cosmo begged.

"We're not fighting," Anita assured her. "You shouldn't let every little thing bother you like that, Cosmo. If you do, you'll be crying all the time. I learned that when I was Eggman's prisoner." Her eyes grew haunted. "Three years I didn't see my family." She shuddered. She'd never gone into too much detail about what happened to her in all that time, and no one had pressed her to elaborate.

"Three years you were his prisoner?" Cosmo asked, looking shocked. "That must have been like a terrible nightmare you couldn't wake up from! How did you get through such a horrible ordeal?"

The hedgehog made a face. "I just kept reminding myself that I had family missing me," Anita told her. "That my brother was trying to find me and bring me home. That I'd be reunited with everybody that mattered to me. And my big bro _did_ find me, and I'm home again!" She suddenly placed her hand over her mouth. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't go on like that to you. You lost _your_ family, and my brother really hurt you, didn't he? So…do you hate him for what happened?"

"Do I hate Sonic for doing what he had to do?" Cosmo asked. She shook her head. "I only hate Dark Oak, and I'm trying to not hate _him_,either."

"What?!?" Amy cried. While Cosmo and Anita had been speaking, Amy had gone and gotten a bowl of cheese crackers. Now she nearly dropped them on the floor. "How could you not hate him?!?" Amy demanded. "After all he did to you? To your family! To you! To Tails! He made Tails shoot you!"

"I know," Cosmo said, placing her hands over her face. "I know what he did better than anyone, Amy. But…but I don't want to hate him, or anyone else! I let hatred control my life for too long!"

"My brother likes to say, 'Make friends with your enemies, it'll drive them crazy!'" Anita said. "But you really mean it, don't you?"

Cosmo nodded. "Yes," she assured her. "I'm still furious with him, but it doesn't make me feel good inside, knowing I have such feelings."

"This is a party," Amy pointed out. "Stop talking about the Metarex! That part of our lives is over forever and ever!"

Cosmo started to tell them about Red Pine, but stopped. No, now was not the time for such terrible news. There was nothing Amy or Cream or Anita could do about him, and there was no reason to worry them.

"So," Cosmo said, trying to change the subject, "how are you and Sonic these days, Amy?"

Amy sighed. "Well, we've been having a lot of serious talks lately," she said. "He confides in me a lot these days. Which is good for a relationship, of course."

Cosmo nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "Confiding in someone you care about is very important. I keep finding myself withholding unpleasant information from Tails," Cosmo admitted "He's asked me not to, and I try to open up to him, but…but there are some things I'm afraid would just upset him."

Amy patted her on the back. "Don't worry," she said, grinning, "a lady should keep _some_ secrets."

Cosmo sighed. "I don't know, Amy," she said. "Tails doesn't like me hiding things from him."

Amy leaned closer and whispered, "Like what sort of things? Something bad?"

Cosmo shut her eyes. How could she answer that question? She didn't want to mention Red Pine today. She certainly didn't want to tell Amy that she could have told them way back at the séance that she was coming back. And she didn't want to admit her relationship with Dark Oak either. At last, she said, "I'd like to make peace with Shadow if I can, but Tails is still very angry at him for attacking me."

"Are you?" Amy asked. "He did try to kill you, you know."

Cosmo shook her head. A lock of hair landed in her eye, and she pushed it back into place. "I'm angry that he hurt Tails so badly when he was only trying to protect me," she admitted, "but I understand he thought I was the enemy. Only…" She gasped. Why did she have to say that last word? How could she finish that sentence, without telling Amy that Shadow should have seen their similarity…because both of them had an evil, dictator father? But maybe he hadn't pieced it together. After all, Tails hadn't, and he was much more intelligent than Shadow.

"Only what?" Amy asked, leaning forward excitedly. Amy loved gossip, although she rarely repeated anything a friend told her in confidence, unless, of course, it slipped out while she was discussing something else, which happened surprisingly often.

"Only he…should have realized how much we had alike," Cosmo finished. "I mean, neither of us really fits in, neither of us were born here, and I may have been forced to work for the Metarex, but then he _chose _to work for Dr. Eggman. And we both lost people we cared about. We should have been friends, Amy. But Tails is still so full of anger. I don't know if he'll ever be able to forgive Shadow. Or even himself." She looked into the hedgehog's green eyes. "Please, Amy, help me to help Tails to get over his anger and move on." Wait. Had she actually just asked _Amy_ to help someone else get over being angry all the time?

"Sure," Amy said, grinning, "no problem!"

"Who's that knocking on the back door?" Ray asked.

"Maybe it's Big," Cream said. "I couldn't find him to invite him over with us."

Amy sighed. "He _would _go to the backdoor, wouldn't he? Go let him in, Ray."

"Huh?" the squirrel said. "Why me?"

"You were the one that heard him knocking first," Amy said.

"Yeah, but…huh?" Ray was unable to think of a reply to that, so he went to answer the door.

****

Bokkun landed in Cream's backyard, behind a rose bush. "Okay," he said to himself, "now I'll just check the windows and see if any are still open." As he crept towards the house, a shooting star streaked across the sky. "Oo…cool!" He reached into his bag and pulled out his camera. "Darn it! It got away! Can't rely on anybody these days!" He dropped the camera back into his bag, and tiptoed over to a window. Locked. He tried the others in the back, then flew around carefully to the front. Still no luck.

"Hey," he suddenly said, scratching his head. "How come I don't hear any sounds from inside?" He opened the mail slot and tried to listen. Not a peep. "They ditched me!" He tried to look around, and found that he couldn't. "Ow! Hey, what the?" His horn had gotten stuck in the mail slot. "No!" he cried. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! You mean ol' door! I'm telling!" He fell over backwards.

"Well, I sure feel stupid right now," he thought, glad that no one was around to see the scene he'd just made. "They must be taking all those goodies to that foxes' house!" He took off towards Tails' home.

"Okay, mild setback," he told himself. "Tails isn't a pig like me. He'll say 'That's really too much food just for me, Cream.' Idiot! Doesn't he know it insults a girl if you tell her you that? I'd eat anything and everything Cream gave me!" He thought about this for a minute. "Well, maybe not if she gave me a rock or a bottle or something. And tin cans taste funny. But anything that's food, I'd be happy to eat!"

He landed in Tails' yard near the greenhouse. He looked over at it. "Too bad that plant didn't turn into Cosmo. She could take Tails, and then maybe I'd have a chance with Cream." He hit himself in the chest. Clang! Clang! "Aw, who am I kidding? Maybe if I was a person, instead of a robot, but…"

Suddenly, he heard yelling in his mind, although he couldn't make out the words. There was a vague, shadowy figure, but he couldn't see who it was. He could tell it wasn't Eggman, however.

Bokkun's eyes snapped open. _Whoa! Was that a…a memory? _He crept up to Tails' house, set his ear against a window. Music. Party music. _So unfair! They're having a party, and nobody ever invites poor little Bokkun! _He went around the house, checking the windows. No luck. Now what? He looked up at Tails' roof. Why couldn't he have had a chimney? How did he ever expect Santa Claus to leave him anything without one?

"I got it!" He reached into his bag again. He took out a smoke grenade. Then he knocked loudly on the back door. He ran around the side of the house. He waited a minute. Man, nice people in there, leaving somebody standing out in the snow so long! Then the door opened. Who was that? Gray or May or something. Bokkun gritted his teeth. He looked like a Tails wannabe! _Another guy after my Cream, probably! She's mine!_ Bokkun pulled the pin out of the grenade with his teeth and tossed it high over Ray's head, into some bushes.

Ray looked up. "What was that?" he wondered. Shooting star? He shrugged, then closed the door.

Bokkun waited a minute, then ran over to the smoke grenade. He picked it up. "You stupid!" he yelled. "Why didn't you…" Bang! "…work?"

Bokkun staggered out of the smoke, coughing. If he didn't know better, he'd think somebody had been watching for him and done that on purpose.

****

"Master," Willow said, saluting. "Message from Pink Andromeda."

"Patch her through," Red Pine demanded, swiveling his chair towards a large screen. An image of a badly scarred planet appeared. A small, slim figure in glistening pink armor saluted him.

"All is well, my king!" Pink Andromeda said. "I have procured the item you sent me for, and shall be returning shortly with it. Are you pleased with me?" The voice was feminine, young, and very eager.

"Excellent, Andromeda," Red Pine said, lacing his fingers together. "You make me proud. But I have one last mission for you before you can return."

"But…aww, do I have to?" she asked.

Red Pine pounded the arm of his chair. "Do you question me?!?"

Pink Andromeda backed away. "N-no, Sir! Please don't be angry with me! I'll do whatever you say. As long as you're happy with me."

"You're a good girl, Andromeda," Red Pine said. "Willow, give her full details."

"Yes, my king," Willow said, sighing as Red Pine swung around, dismissing both of them. She looked at Andromeda as if to say, "Well, we tried, anyway." Then began giving her final instructions. When she was finished, she bowed. "You've done fine work in my book, Princess."

Pink Andromeda sighed and broke the connection. She reached for her helmet, pulled it off. A single white flower bud grew from her purple hair. Her eyes, also violet, were sad. "I'll make you proud of me yet," she said to the blank screen, "…Daddy."

****

"I'm very happy for you, Tails," Espio said as he and Tails put away the fox's equipment. "You're very lucky. A miracle took place this day, my friend."

Tails nodded, rubbing at his eyes. "I know," he croaked. He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I've been awfully emotional for a long time now. I'm trying to get over it. You know, get back to normal. Whatever that might be for me now."

"You had a terrible injury," Espio said, his eyes growing distant, as if he were looking into other worlds. "What happened last year wounded you to your very soul. You've healed much of that wound, but it left scars. Now that Cosmo has returned, the scars should begin to fade."

Tails put away his floor buffer. "But do I have the right to allow myself to heal, after what I did?"

Espio shook his head. "Does Cosmo blame you?"

Tails closed the cabinet where he kept his buffer and vacuum cleaner. "No, she doesn't blame me," he said at last. "But that sort of makes me feel worse in a way. Because I hurt her horribly, but she just smiled and told me that it's okay."

"It _is_ okay, little buddy," Sonic assured him, stepping into the workshop. "Sorry I couldn't help you lug that stuff back here, but I had a bit of trouble getting away from Amy."

"I thought you and Amy were getting along better," Tails said, glad to change the subject.

"We are, kind of," Sonic admitted. "And don't change the subject. You're still blaming yourself. You've got to stop it, Tails. If you don't, it will always stand between you and Cosmo. Come on, bro. She's alive. She's back. She's in your living room, probably wondering why you don't come and take her away from Amy's yackety-yack."

"You're right," Tails said. His head agreed, but his heart was still stubborn. "Let me make sure everything's put away properly, then I'll go back and…well, I won't ask Cosmo to dance. I don't want to step on her feet…again. The truth is, I…I'm not really sure what to say to her. I mean, I can't just comment about the weather, or ask her what her favorite color is or lame stuff like that."

"I'm afraid I can't help you there," Espio said sadly. "I myself have never had the good fortune of truly being in love."

"Find out what she's interested in, and talk to her about it," Sonic suggested. "She likes nature. She might actually enjoy a conversation about the weather. You know, except when we were on a planet somewhere, she never had much contact with weather conditions. Hey, you should take her sledding!"

Tails smacked his forehead. "Of course!" he cried. "What's the matter with me? I should find some fun things to do with her."

Sonic winked. "And it's only a week 'til Valentine's Day, you know!" They had picked up several holidays while on Earth, and brought them back with them.

Tails blushed. "Valentine's Day? Oh yeah. Um…they're going to have a party that day, aren't they?"

"A masquerade ball," Sonic elaborated. "So you'd better learn how to dance if you don't want to stomp on her feet all night."

Tails ran his fingers through his hair. "Well…maybe I could ask Miss Vanilla if she could give me some dancing lessons."

"Good idea," Sonic said. "Now come on. Let's get back there before Amy talks Cosmo's ear off."

****

The machines in the laboratory hummed loudly, sounding like a hundred microwaves running at the same time. Red and white and blue lights flickered in no apparent sequence. The air smelled like a pile of socks, dropped into a pot, and boiled on a stove. The fat man in the room pulled a switch, flipped a couple of buttons. The humming faded. The lights winked out. He rubbed his hands together like a kid in a candy store as he walked up to the mostly red and black mass hooked up to numerous tubes and wires.

"Finally, you're ready!" the man said, pushing his protective goggles up onto their usual position on the top of his bald head.

The robot's eyes lit up. "Observation: I live! Question: Who am I?"

"You are E-123, codenamed Omega," the fat man said.

"The robot turned its head in his direction. "Who are you?" it asked.

"I am your creator and master, the world's greatest genius, Doctor Ivo Robotnik! But call me Dr. Eggman! Or Master! Master is good!"

"Question: What are your orders, Master?"

Eggman rubbed his chin. "Actually, your orders are simple," he explained. "I made you to ensure that Shadow the Hedgehog is stopped if he tries to break in here and murder me!"

The robot attempted to digest them. "Question: What should I do if this Shadow does appear?"

Eggman pounded his palm with his other hand. "Why, then you destroy him, of course! What are you, stupid?"

The robot bowed its head as far as it would move, which wasn't far. "Observation: I have failed you already. Question: How can I serve you better?"

Eggman stroked his mustache. "Unfortunately, I have no idea where he is at this time," the fat man admitted. "You'll have to search him out. Do _not_ fail me, E-123!"

The robot nodded. "Affirmative! Orders received! Statement: Shadow the Hedgehog must die!"

Eggman pointed towards the door. "Then go!"

E-123 Omega crashed through the wall. "Destroy Shadow the Hedgehog! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!"

Eggman slapped his forehead. "I said the door, you ninny!" Then he stared at the robot-shaped hole in the wall. "Knuckles couldn't smash through that wall!" He started laughing. "Shadow won't stand a chance! Ho ho ho ho ho!"

****

"So, Cosmo," Anita said. "What was Heaven like? Did you see God?"

Cosmo searched her memory. "Sorry," she said finally, "I saw a lot of people who had passed on, but I don't recall any divine beings. The closest was probably the judge that sentenced Dark Oak. I think he was called the…General of the…something way."

"The General of the Five Ways?" Vanilla, still tidying up a little, asked.

Cosmo spun around and stared at her. "That's it!" she said. "You've heard of him?"

"He's supposed to be the strictest of the ten judges of the dead," Vanilla said. "I don't know too much about him, though. Only that the very worst offenders are sent to him." She shivered. "I'd rather not think about something like that, though.

"I hope he threw the book at that monster!" Amy said. "Tossed him into a pit full of flaming maggots or something! And the rest of them! Yellow Zelkova, Black Narcissus, uh…Bay Leaf, and that one we never even saw before he croaked, what was his name? Red…Pine."

"Please," Vanilla said, "you're going to scare Cream."

"I'm okay, Mom," Cream assured her, getting up from the couch and putting her arms around her mother. _I'm starting to think she says something's going to scare me when it's really bothering her._

"Well, I _know_ Dark Oak was punished," Cosmo told them. "I…" she made a face. "I spoke against him at his trial. In fact, I really lost control and started screaming at him!"

Amy patted her on the back. "Hey, hey. He got what he had coming to him," she assured her, not realizing she wasn't helping.

"Yellow Zelkova, Black Narcissus, and Pale Bay Leaf all received terrible punishments too," Cosmo said. "At least, I believe I heard my mother say they did. Of course, Red Pine has escaped punishment so far since he's…" She clamped her hands over her mouth, realizing too late what she'd just said.

Amy sputtered. Cream's eyes bugged out. "How did Red Pine get away with it?" Amy demanded.

Cosmo brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Um…well, he…uh…you see…"

"Well?" Amy demanded, leaning towards her friend. "Out with it!" Her jaw dropped open. "Don't tell me he's…"

Cosmo sighed. "I'm sorry!" she said, shaking her head helplessly. "I didn't want to worry anyone about him, at least not today," Cosmo said finally. "But, yes, Amy. Red Pine is alive."

"What?!" Cream and Amy both cried. Vector and Charmy, who were eating, stopped. Vector got choked, and Vanilla started pounding him on the back.

"What was that?" Knuckles demanded, pulling away from Julie-Su. "No way! He plunged into that black hole, and…"

"We all plunged into that black hole," Cosmo him. "Super Sonic saved us, Super Shadow saved Rouge and Doctor Eggman, and…and someone named Black Doom saved Red Pine!"

Everyone looked at each other. "Black Doom?" Knuckles asked. "Who?"

"Sounds like a comic book super villain," Charmy said.

Mighty stepped forward. "I've never seen any of these Metarex," he admitted, "but Ray and I had our hands full helping people get by while they had our planet egg."

"Some of them we couldn't save," Ray added softly, returning to the living room.

"So if there's going to be more trouble with them, you can count on me and Ray to help, right, buddy?"

Ray looked at Mighty as if he didn't like the idea that much. "Uh…yeah, right, Mighty."

"And that goes for the rest of the Chaotix, right, Charmy?" Vector said, giving Cosmo a thumbs-up.

"I guess so," Charmy said, eating. He didn't seem too thrilled either about fighting.

Vanilla put her arms around her daughter. "Well, I don't think I want Cream getting involved in it," she said firmly. "I'm not at all pleased that none of you told me just how dangerous going out into space last year was." Cream, Amy, Knuckles, and the Chaotix all looked away from her.

"Mom," Cream whispered, "please don't embarrass me in front of my friends!"

****

"Please," Merlin said, as he was led down the hall by an orderly. "I must see someone in charge! I need to get out of here!"

"Settle down, Gramps," the bulldog said. "Behave yourself, and I won't have to use the restraints."

Merlin had to force himself not to make a retort. Harry was a rude, spiteful, somewhat stupid individual. The fox wondered what he was doing there, in a mental facility. Had he mistreated poor Miles last year? Merlin made a vow to do something about him once he was released. Whenever that was. He still couldn't get anyone to let him speak to a doctor.

"Sit down here, and be quiet!" Harry said, pushing the old fox down into a cushion. "Just sit there and watch the tv set, and we shouldn't have any trouble."

As the bulldog walked away, Merlin made a face. "We shall see how much trouble we will have once I get to someone in authority, popinjay!"

"Better watch yourself," a voice said. "Harry is a real piece of garbage. Don't push him too far."

Merlin looked across the room. A hedgehog girl wearing a poncho sat on the sofa against the wall.

"Has he actually harmed you, child?" Merlin asked. She seemed about Miles' age. He didn't like her eyes. They looked crazy.

"Most people here are more scared of me than him," the girl said. She threw back her head and laughed. "So what are you in for? Senile?"

"Certainly not!" Merlin said indignantly. "It's all a dreadful mistake!"

"Yeah, that's what the last fox that came in here said," the girl told him. Her face grew thoughtful. "He was a mutant. Had two tails. But he got out awhile back. Just like a girl I knew. I'm the only one left."

"The boy is my nephew," Merlin said. "I'm certain once he learns I'm in here, he'll help me to get out."

"You didn't exactly help him get out," the girl said. "Didn't have any visitors except a couple of hedgehogs, and one of them was a crazy girl who tried to impersonate a nurse and sneak him out."

Merlin made a face. "Yes, she tends to do that sort of thing," he remembered. "She's not crazy, just…extremely enthusiastic about everything she's interested in."

"Uh huh," the girl said, turning back to the tv set.

"Excuse me for just one moment longer, miss," Merlin said, rubbing his forehead. "How long do you think it will be before I can speak with someone in authority here?"

"Not until Dr. Gantan comes on duty in a couple of hours," the girl said, looking back at him. She grinned. "I'm Heather, by the way. Want to know why I'm here?"

"It's none of my business," Merlin said, wondering if she was dangerous.

"Some kids ran me up a flag pole," she went on, ignoring him. "Laughed at me. When I finally got down, I beat one of them until she had to go to the hospital."  
"Why would they have done such a thing?" Merlin asked.

Heather pulled off her poncho. She waved her four arms at him. "Feast your eyes! Glut your soul on my accursed ugliness!"

Merlin shook his head. This was definitely going to be a very long, long day.

****

"So who was at the door, Ray?" Mighty asked, once Vanilla had gone back to talking to Vector. Nice woman, but truly scary when she wanted to be.

Ray shrugged as he helped himself to some punch. "Nobody," the squirrel said. "I saw something fly by overhead. Shooting star, maybe."

"What's all this?" Espio asked as he and Tails returned.

"Red Pine is alive, but we're not afraid of him, are we, everybody?" Cream said, shaking her fist.

"Nope," Sonic said, still careful not to get too close to Amy.

"He's what?" Espio asked.

"You found out he was alive while you were…gone?" Amy asked.

"And you were afraid that he'd come after you?" She gasped. "Cosmo! Are you saying…that you knew you could come back all along, but you said you weren't because you were scared of him?!?"

Cosmo shook her head. "No, that's not why I was afraid to come back!" She gasped and slapped her forehead. She turned towards Tails, who was staring in shock at her.

"You-you _did_ know you could…come back?!?" Tails gasped. He staggered a little, and grabbed onto the side of the couch.

Cosmo looked over at Tails. He looked like she'd just hit him in the stomach. "Tails, I…I'm sorry. Yes, I…I knew I could have come back almost as soon as I died!"

Tails dropped down to his knees. He started shaking. "You…you knew you almost as soon as…but…but you …you didn't want to come back?" He looked away, his face twisting as he fought to control his emotions. "No, I…I'm sorry. I can't blame you. Of course you wanted to be with your family." He chewed on his lip.

"Tails, please!" Cosmo sobbed, getting down on her knees and placing her arms around him. She held him tightly, trying to get him to stop shaking. "I never wanted to hurt you!"

"No, it's okay," Tails insisted, getting up. "You…you missed them, and you wanted to stay with them."

"But she chose _you_ in the end, Tails!" Amy assured him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tails said, rubbing at his eyes. "I'm sorry, Cosmo. I'm being selfish, I shouldn't…"

Cosmo placed her finger on his lips. "No, Tails," she said. She could let this go now, and not tell the rest, but she realized it would remain between them. "Tails, I…I _wanted_ to be with you. I tried to force myself to be happy with my family and forget, but…"

"You wanted to move on," Tails said, looking down at the floor. "That-that's okay. We never really had much of a relationship. I…I didn't give you any promises. I…I couldn't even talk to you about how I felt until it was…until I…"

"Please, Tails," Cosmo begged. "Let me finish this while I have the courage! I wanted to be with my family with all my heart, and still do, but…but also, I didn't want to go back because…because if I stayed dead, I couldn't…end up like…Dark Oak!"

Everyone stared at her, but she only noticed Tails. "What…what are you saying?" he asked.

Cosmo looked him in the eyes. "I didn't want …to risk inheriting his…his mental problems. Or…or pass them on to my…" She couldn't finish. She realized she was shaking as badly as Tails now, but she had to finish this. She had to tell them, tell Tails, the whole horrible truth. Even if it meant that all of them, yes, even the boy she loved more than anything, hated her for it.

"No…" Tails said, shaking his head. "Stop!" he whispered desperately. "Please don't!"

"I'm so ashamed," Cosmo sobbed, "but you have the right to know. But you already do, don't you? You didn't want to face it, just like I tried for nine months to avoid facing what might be my future." She took a deep breath. "Dark oak was insane you know, and…and he was…was…my…" She pulled her hands free of Tails' and covered her face. "I'm sorry, Tails! He was my father!"

She waited now. Waited for the yells. The curses. For someone to tell her to go and die again. For her best friends to reject her. For Tails to walk out of her life forever.

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6: Family Trees

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Six

"Family Trees"

Cosmo felt a hand smack her on the head. She cringed. The reaction was as bad as she'd feared. Although, actually, she realized the blow didn't really hurt. In fact, it reminded her of the one Amy had given her when she'd chewed her out for going to Black Narcissus and nearly getting Chris killed. Then she heard a snort, followed by, "You idiot! Give us a little credit, why don't you?"

"Leave her alone, Amy!" That was Tails. "It's okay, Cosmo. You're not your father. You're not going to make the same mistakes he did!"  
Cosmo opened her eyes. "You knew?"

"Uh, duh," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "You think we're morons?"

Cosmo felt her face grow warm. "You knew?" she said again, covering her face once more. "You…I feel so…stupid!"

"It's okay," Tails said, putting his arms around her. "Please don't cry, Cosmo. No one blames you."

"Excuse me, Vector," Vanilla said, heading towards the kitchen. "I think Cosmo could use some tea. I brought some with me. I'll just go prepare it now."

"Here, let me help you," Espio offered, following the rabbit. "I've found tea helps soothe my nerves after listening to Vector and Charmy fight all day."

"Hey!" Vector cried, following them. "I resemble that remark!"

Sonic, standing across the room away from Amy, eating a chili dog, looked at Cosmo curiously. He remembered Dark Oak's last words to him. That his descendents would avenge him one day. He watched as Tails helped Cosmo onto the couch, hovering worriedly over her. _Please, don't make me have to fight my little brother's kids someday!_

"We figured it out when we saw your mother's film," Tails said, helping her back on the couch.

"I could tell your mom had some serious issues about that purple guy she fought with," Amy said. "That was Dark Oak, right?"

Cosmo nodded. "Well, that was Lucas, who became Dark Oak."

"It was so obvious from the way she talked that she loved the jerk, and he broke her heart," Amy went on. "Honestly, why do women insist on falling for guys that treat them badly?" She glared at Sonic as she asked this question. He suddenly became fascinated by a picture of Tails' parents over the fireplace.

"It was more complicated than that, Amy," Cosmo said.

"He was no good!" Amy insisted, shaking her finger at Cosmo. "He killed your family! Your friends! He made Tails shoot you!"

"I know!" Cosmo said, burying her face in the arm of the couch. "But he was my father! What sort of person wishes their own father dead? Sacrifices their own life to make that happen?"

"He gave up any right to be your father when he attacked your mother and sisters!" Tails insisted. He tried to turn her around to face him, but she wouldn't let go of the couch. "I only wish I could have killed him without hurting you!"

Cosmo turned to Tails with a look of horror on her face. "We only killed him because we had no other choice!" she insisted. "I hated him! I wanted him destroyed! But…but I don't want to hate him anymore!"  
"Well, I still hate him!" Amy said. "And a lot of other people do too! He wiped out more than just your people, Cosmo!"

Knuckles nodded. "Rouge told me that girl, Molly, she and Shadow met, was part of what had once been a hundred planet empire. Billions wiped out because of the Metarex! You did the right thing, Cosmo! Never doubt that!"

"I don't," Cosmo said. "I just wish there'd been another way."

"We all do," Tails assured her.

Cosmo sighed. Perhaps talking about Lucas was a mistake. She wasn't sure if she felt sorry for him, or just needed somebody to talk to about her feelings. She looked towards the kitchen. Perhaps Cream's mother would be more willing to listen to her without telling her to change the subject. She reminded her a little of Galaxina.

****

"Aw, come on!" Bokkun cried, having tested every window in Tails' house. He returned to the front door. "Okay, time to get more desperate." He pounded on the door, then hid around the corner of the house.  
Cream sighed. "Excuse me," she said, getting up. "I'll see who it is."

Cream opened the door. She looked around. "Hello? Who's there, please? Hello?"

Bokkun hadn't expected Cream to open the door. It took him a few seconds to get his brain to work. He finally tossed a snowball high over her head. It splattered against a tree. Cream turned at the sound.

"Where'd that come from?" She looked up. "It's not snowing! And snowflakes aren't that big."

Bokkun flew in fast behind her back. He didn't like sneaking in past her, but he couldn't take the chance she'd tell him to leave. Now that he was already inside, though, if she caught him, she might feel sorry for him if he seemed pathetic enough. Looking around, he ducked through the nearest door, and found himself in a closet.

Cream came back in, shutting the door behind her. "I guess nothing should surprise me today." She leaned against the closet door with a sigh. "No, I am not going to cry!" she said softly.

Inside of the closet, Bokkun struggled to hear her. Did she say she was going to cry? Had somebody hurt her? He'd show 'em! Where were they?  
Cream rubbed her eyes. "Tails is happy. That's all that matters!"

"Huh?" Bokkun said. What did that fox have to do with anything?

Cream hadn't heard him. "Cosmo's back. That's what's important!"

"Say what?!?" Bokkun cried.

That, Cream heard. She looked around. Was that Charmy? No, he already knew that Cosmo was alive. Besides, he and Saffron had left awhile ago. "Bokkun?"

"Uh…nobody in here but us sweaters!" Bokkun said nervously, hiding behind a coat as the closet door was suddenly opened.

"Bo-" Cream placed her hand over her mouth and looked around. "Bokkun!" she said much softer. "What are you doing in there?"

Bokkun looked around, then lifted the sleeve of one sweater. "Uh…I was…just going through Tails' sweaters, and this sleeve is getting a little frayed here!"

Cream folded her arms and tapped her foot.

"No?" he asked. "Uh…I'm such a big dummy, I got lost in a closet? Hahahamrph!"

Cream had placed her hand over his mouth now. "What are you trying to do, get yourself into trouble on purpose?!?" she hissed. "You shouldn't be in Tails' house at all!"

"Aw, come on," Bokkun begged. "I'm so hungry! Don't you have anything for me?"

Cream shook her head. "You silly…okay, stay in there, and I'll bring you something to eat. You'd just better hope my mom doesn't ask me what I'm doing."

"I'm sorry, Cream," Bokkun said, feeling guilty. "I don't want to get you in trouble with your mother. Maybe I should just go."

Cream had turned away. Now she looked back over her shoulder at him. Was that really Bokkun who had just said that? So she wasn't the only one that had been doing some growing up lately. "No, it's okay," she assured him. "You just stay there and I'll be right back." She gently pushed the door shut then returned to the living room.

"Who was it, Cream?" Amy asked when the bunny returned to the living room.

"Um…somebody who likes playing games, I guess," Cream said. She hated lying to Amy, let alone her own mother, but it wasn't completely false. Bokkun certainly did love playing games. She just hoped he was getting more serious and less dishonest. He was a nice little guy when he wasn't being mean. Cream started making a tray of snacks.

"Wow, Cream," Amy said after a couple of minutes, "you're sure eating a lot these days."

"I guess I'm a growing girl," Cream said. Well, that wasn't a lie either. She had certainly been feeling older lately. Now, how could she get the food back to Bokkun without anyone wondering where she was going? She set the tray down and went back to Tails' stereo equipment. She put on a song she'd heard coming many times from the Chaotix Detective Agency. As she'd hoped, Vector hopped up and asked her mother to dance. She looked over at Tails and Cosmo. They only had eyes for each other. It hurt, but at least she didn't have to worry about them catching her. She looked over at Amy, who was trying yet again to get Sonic to dance with her. Cheese had fallen asleep on the coffee table. That left Anita, who was…laying upside-down on the couch with her feet in the air and her head on the floor. Oo-kayy… Cream nonchalantly picked up the tray and snuck away.

She found Bokkun just sneaking out of the closet. She felt her brow knit in frustration. "Bokkun!" she hissed. Honestly, what was she going to do with him?

Bokkun nearly jumped out of his skin. "I didn't--oh, it's you, Cream!" He leaned against the wall. "Man, you scared me there. I thought sure it was your mom, about to hit me with a broom or something."

Cream sighed as she motioned for him to get back into the closet. "Just stay put until you finish and leave," she said. "And try not to make too much noise, or get food on Tails' clothes, okay?"

Bokkun looked at the food. "Wow! Everything looks so good!"

Cream motioned for him to be quiet. "Are you trying to get us both in trouble? I'm really sticking my neck out here for you, you know!"

Bokkun hung his head. "Sorry," he said. "Please don't be mad. I'm trying the best I can."

Cream sighed again. "Yes, yes I know that," she said softly. "And you're making a lot of progress, Bokkun." She patted his hand reassured. "But if you really want to change, you have to stop working for Doctor Eggman."

Bokkun looked down at the floor. "I know…" he said. "But…I'm scared. I don't know where else to go. I don't know what else to do."

"I'm sure Tails and Cosmo and Mister Sonic will help you if you really want to change," Cream told him. Bokkun noticed she hadn't mentioned her mother there.

He suddenly looked around. "Where's Cheese?" he asked. "If he sees me, he'll tell your Mom! He hates me!"

"He's asleep," Cream said. "But he likes to take little naps, so he could wake up at any time. And you were never very nice to him, Bokkun. I'll do my best to make peace between you, but you have to apologize to everybody you've been mean to, and you have to really _mean_ it!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Bokkun said. Cream could be very forceful when she wanted to be. Bokkun started eating. "This food is great!"

"Please don't change the subject when I'm being serious," Cream said, sitting down beside him in the closet. "Promise me you'll do your best to behave and be a good boy, Bokkun. Because I'm sorry, but I just can't be friends with somebody who's bad."

Bokkun looked into Cream's eyes. "I'll do whatever you want me to do, Cream," he promised. "Just give me a little more time."

Cream looked back into Bokkun's eyes. A little more time wouldn't hurt, she decided.

****

Shadow walked down to the water's edge. After weeks in the wilderness, he'd found himself able to let go of his anger for gradually longer and longer periods. It wouldn't last. He got a drink, then sat down to ponder his future.

"So is this it? The rest of my life, however long that might be? Just existing?" He picked up a small stone and skipped it across the water's edge. "But what else is there?"

As if in answer, there was a sudden explosion. Shadow's eyes, grown soft over time, hardened. He leaped up, once again the suspicious, cold hearted creature he'd been since awakening. He noted a red and black and grey robot.

"Target sighted!" it said in a mechanical voice stated. "Begin termination program!"

"So, Eggman finally sent an assassin to kill me!" Shadow said. He smirked. "You don't really think it will be all that easy do you?"

"Analysis: This unit is the mightiest of machines! Constructed from combined Eggman and Metarex technologies! Statement: You have no hope for survival!"

"Forgive me if I make an effort anyway!" Shadow said, leaping into the air and spin dashing the robot. Sparks flew wildly, and Shadow was knocked backwards. This was not going to be easy. He began scanning it with his keen eyes, trying to find a weak spot in its construction. It only took him a fraction of a second to determine he couldn't find any, but it was long enough for the robot's arm to strike out at him. Shadow backflipped, metal claws barely missing his face. Without a real chaos emerald, Shadow's powers were limited. He had a fake on him, but suspected one more use would completely drain it. There were a couple more in hidden spots, but he'd wanted to save at least one. He activated his skates. Best to allow the machine to show him what it had. Once he knew what it was capable and incapable of, he'd have an easier time dealing with it.

"Catch me if you can!" he called, speeding away from it at about mach point five. As he knew it would, the robot followed. He grinned as it fell behind, then snarled as he noted jets suddenly ignite from its back. The machine began to catch up_._

"Observation: Resistance is futile!" Omega stated, machine gun emerging from one hand. "Targeting objective! Statement: You will perish now!" The construct open fired. Shadow speeded up, dodging and weaving wildly. He leaped over a large rock and kicked it at the robot. Omega's other hand struck out, metal claws smashing the rock to pieces.

_Eggman's gone all out this time. That thing won't go down easily! _The hedgehog's face constricted into a ghastly grin. _But neither will I!_

Omega's claws slid into his arm, replaced by a cannon-like attachment. "Activate flame cannon!" Shadow leaped over tongues of fire. Flamethrowers? Eggman really wasn't taking chances. Shadow placed a hand on one of his rings. He could remove them and boost his powers enough to destroy just about anything, but if the robot survived for too long, it might outlast him. He was no scientist. He couldn't calculate how fast his strength ebbed, and no way to figure out a way to stop the energy loss, if that were even possible. Perhaps Gerald hadn't made him so perfect as he had thought.

Shadow led the robot towards the mountains. With luck, he could damage those jets and kick it off the edge of a cliff. But it seemed his luck was running out. Omega's scanners had been busily at work, analyzing Shadow's speed. It's machine gun hand retracted, a large gun taking his place. Looking over his shoulder, Shadow saw a red light on his back. He leaped to the side, just as the robot proclaimed, "Beam gun!" A bright light just missed him. It struck a tree and passed clear through it.

_Lasers, too!_ Shadow thought. _What did he do? Just stuff it with every weapon that would fit? Damn! I need an emerald!_

Shadow increased his speed, going super sonic. The robot fell behind, but continued to follow. Shadow clenched his fists. Maybe he could lose it somewhere, but he was not a coward! He would _not_ run and hide!

Shadow ran up the side of a tree. He turned, and raised his arms. He slammed them down, sending out concussive shockwaves. The robot was pushed backwards, but seemed unharmed. Shadow snarled. He concentrated. Energy crackled in his hand. "Chaos spear!" He hurled the glowing missile.

Omega fell over. "Analysis: Chaos spear attack. Query: Is that target's best effort?"

Shadow leaped at the robot, going into a spindash. He hit it, bounced off, struck a tree, hit the robot again, and repeated several more times. Without an emerald, creating chaos spears was exhausting. He couldn't make very many of them before he'd be down for the count. But a pinball attack seemed to have no effect on the machine. Perhaps the eyes? He leaped up and started kicking at Omega's optic sensors.

Omega backed away. Its head spun around three hundred and sixty degrees. Was it damaged? Shadow bounced off its head, then kicked it again, sending the machine falling on its side. He gave it several more kicks to the head.

"Observation: Systems confused! Cannot maintain balance!" Its machine guns reappeared. It started shooting wildly. Shadow dodged and weaved desperately. The robot staggered back to its feet.

"Catch me if you can!" Shadow shouted, running towards the mountains again. Omega activated its jets and followed.

_I knocked it off-balance back there, but it probably won't fall for the same trick twice. _He grabbed a large rock, backflipped, and dropped it on Omega's head. _Have to keep it confused. Not use the same series of moves twice in a row._

****

"Okay," Cream said once Bokkun was finished eating. "Time for you to go."

"This wasn't much of a party," Bokkun said sadly. "I didn't get to dance with you or anything!"

Cream stared at him. "Do you know how to dance?"

"Well, not really," Bokkun admitted, "but I'm sure I can learn."

Cream looked back towards the living room. The music had stopped. Her mother would notice she was missing! She took the plate, then hurried to the front door. She opened it, and motioned to Bokkun. "You've got to go now!" she hissed. "I'm sorry, but I just can't cover for you anymore!"

Bokkun sighed, walking slowly towards the door. He turned in the doorway. "I'll see you again soon, won't I?" he asked.

He looked so pitiful, Cream did something that she would long wonder about. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. The act surprised both of them.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

Cream blinked. "Uh…" Why _had_ she done that?

She was still struggling to come up with an answer, when she heard, "Cream, dear? Where are you?"

The little bunny gasped. "My mom! Quick! Go go go!" She nudged him out the door, then closed it behind him. Deep down inside, she felt terrible doing that to him. But she didn't have time to feel bad right now. She hurried towards her mother. "Coming, Mom!"

****  
"Young lady," Merlin said to Heather, "I really wish you would stop laughing that way."

Heather looked around. "Lady? Who came in?"

Merlin placed a hand to his forehead. This girl was giving him a headache. "I'm sorry you've had trouble in the past for being…unusual, but…"

"I'm not unusual," Heather insisted, grinning that weird grin again that gave him the willies. "I'm a freak!" She waved her four arms at him again. "Freeaak! Freeaak!"

"Now, now, that will be quite enough of that," he said, glaring at her. Heather proceeded to glare back. _I'm having a staring contest with a traumatized child! _he suddenly realized. _I must be getting old, allowing her to reduce me to her level!_

"Uh…so, what are your hobbies, young miss?" he asked, hoping to get her to open up to him.

"I can swear in several languages," she bragged.

"That's hardly ladylike behavior," he admonished her, shaking his finger at her.

"I told you, I ain't not no lady neither!" Heather said, picking her nose.

"Don't do that!" he cried. "You're going to make it bleed."

"Yeah, probably," Heather said. "Hey, can you burp the alphabet?"

"I most sincerely hope not!" Merlin said, folding his arms.

"It's easy," Heather insisted. And she proceeded to prove it.

_What did I do to deserve this?_ he asked himself.

"Come on, Gramps!" Heather said. "You try now!"

"Did you make Miles do this sort of thing?" Merlin asked.

"Nah, Debbie always told me to leave him alone," Heather said. "But she's gone now. Hey, ever try this?" She placed her hand on her armpit and started making noises.

_Please…somebody get me out of this place!_

****

"Hey, wait a minute!" Amy said, looking at Cream and Cosmo, who were standing next to each other. She tried to remember something from last year. "Cosmo? Your shoes didn't have heels, did they?"

Cosmo shook her head. "No, Amy, they didn't. Why?"

Amy walked over to the two younger girls. "Stand closer together," she said. She nearly conked their heads together.

"Amy?" Cosmo asked. "What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, Amy placed one hand on top of Cream's head, and the other on top of Cosmo's. Then she moved her hands together. "Huh. I thought so," she said, more to herself than to anyone in the room. "Wonder how that happened?"

"How what happened, Amy?" Cream asked, staring at her friend. Sometimes Amy was very difficult to understand.

"Cosmo," Amy said, staring at the plant girl, "you used to be quite a bit taller than Cream, remember?"

Cosmo nodded. "Yes, that's true," she agreed. "Why, does that matter, Amy? I'm a couple of years older than she is."

"Look at yourselves," Amy told both girls. "Cream's almost caught up to you, Cosmo."

Cream and Cosmo stared at each other. "Why, so I have," Cream said. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know," Cosmo said, "I suppose I just haven't grown as much as…" Her eyes grew wide. "Oh! Oh, what a dummy I am!" She smacked her forehead.

Tails stared at her. "Cosmo! What's the matter? Why did you do that?"

Cosmo rubbed her forehead. "I aged to adulthood, so that I could transform into a tree and…merge with Dark Oak," she explained. "Then when I died and became a seed again…well, I couldn't come back to you as either an adult or a baby, Tails. That would have been very difficult for both of us. So my mother told me that I could choose what age I wanted to come back as. And not thinking clearly, I chose the same age I was before I transformed."

"But what's wrong with that, Cosmo?" Cream asked, thoroughly confused now.

"I get it," Tails said. "You came back the same age, but you were…gone…for nine months."

"All of you aged those nine months," Cosmo agreed, nodding. "But I didn't."

"That's okay, Cosmo," Amy said, patting her on the head. "It's not that big a time gap, and look at it this way: Before, you were a little older than Tails. Now, _he's_ a little older. I always think it's better if the boy's a little older, isn't that right, my big blue hero?"

"Uh…yeah," Sonic said, trying to ignore her.

"That's it, Amy!" Anita said, smacking Amy on the back. "You're got my brother eating out of the palm of your hand!"

"Oh, go jump in the lake!" Amy said.

"Nikki!" Anita cried. "Amy's being mean to me!"

"She started it!" Amy cried. "Sonic!"

"I seriously don't know either of you two girls," Sonic said, covering a grin with his hand.

Cosmo shook her head. She had never understood it, but long ago given up trying to figure out whatever sort of relationship Sonic and Amy had. She turned her attention to Cream. They had been so close before. But the rabbit hadn't spoken to her much today. "Cream?" she said softly. "Are you all right?"

Cream had been wondering why she had gone so far out of her way to help Bokkun. It took her a moment to register that someone was speaking to her. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, Cosmo. What did you say again?"  
"I was just wondering how you're feeling," Cosmo said.

"Oh," Cream said. She forced herself to smile. "I'm fine, really."

"If…if I'm upsetting you in any way, Cream," Cosmo said nervously, "please don't hesitate to tell me."

Cream shook her head. "No, no, it's not that, Cosmo, honestly," she assured her. "I just…have some things I have to work out on my own, that's all."

"I'm so sorry, Cream," Cosmo said, looking away. "I asked you to take care of Tails, and said I wouldn't be back. I guess I'm a big fat liar, huh?"

"No, I think you were just confused," Cream said. "Really, Cosmo, I'm very happy you're back. I promise, I'm not going to try to cause you and Tails any trouble or anything like that."

Cosmo gasped. "Oh, Cream!" she said. She waved her hands nervously in the air. "Oh! I…I didn't mean to imply that I thought you would!"

"I didn't mean to imply I might," Cream said quickly.

"Okay, you two aren't going to fight," Amy said. "Now that that's out of the way, let's not bring it up again, okay?"

"Okay!" both girls said at the same time. They looked at each other, surprised, then giggled. Their friendship had hit a serious bump, but it was already starting to mend.

****

The old man in dingy coveralls continued to work on the device his grandson had built. It was an amazing achievement, but there had been some serious flaws in it. He wiped the perspiration from his eyes, and turned to his new assistant, a short, skinny man with a long nose and only a few hairs left on his otherwise bald head.

"Ready to break for lunch, Colin?" the old man suggested.

"Very soon, Mister Thorndyke, sir," the little man said, grinning. As Chuck Thorndyke turned away, Colin stuck his tongue out at the older individual.

"My grandson is going to be very disappointed if we can't get this working again," Chuck said, more to himself than to his assistant.

"And this machine really sent him to that other world, where Sonic the Hedgehog lives, sir?" Colin asked.

"Absolutely!" Chuck said. "But six years here somehow became only six months there, and it seriously affected his age. Somehow, he lost those six years. I still don't understand how he got them back again."

"He actually grew younger as he crossed the gulf between worlds, sir?" Colin asked, sounding fascinated. "That's quite unbelievable!"

"But true!" Chuck insisted. "However, it's been months since he came back, and we've been completely unable to reestablish contact with Mobius. Possibly because Chris, my grandson, used an item over there called the Master Emerald to get to Sonic's world, and it was shattered in combat against space cyborgs!"

"Space cyborgs?" Colin asked, his eyes thoughtful.

Chuck assumed his assistant didn't believe him. "Trust me, Chris doesn't make stuff up."

"Oh, I have no doubt of that, sir," the little man said, grinning sheepishly.

Chuck yawned and stretched. "Well, anyway, Colin, I'm taking my break now. Don't work too hard." He started to walk away.

"Oh, I won't, sir!" Colin said, grinning. As soon as Chuck Thorndyke left the room, the little fellow's face clouded over. "No, I'll be sure to work smarter, not harder…sir!"

He turned back to the device. "I don't know how your insipid grandson did it, but I'll find a way to repeat his success, and travel to that other world!"

Colin thought back to the time, seven years ago, when he'd heard about Sonic and the others. Most interestingly, he'd noticed the remarkable resemblance between the mad scientist, Doctor Eggman, and his great-grandfather, Gerald. Finding that Eggman was, in fact, Gerald's grandson, and, therefore, Colin's uncle, had been shocking news. Not that he minded having an uncle who was a maniac that built giant robots, no, that didn't bother him one bit. But the fact that a relative was his own boss, working for nobody but himself, and doing what he enjoyed, ah, _that_ had caught his attention.

"I am sick and tired of working for peanuts while less talented fools like the Thorndykes reap the big rewards!" Colin muttered, returning to his work. "There are ways for a smart man like myself to make it big, but they've always eluded me! Always there was somebody just a little quicker, a little more conniving, to cheat me out of what should have been mine! But maybe, on a world with only a fat old man for competition…"

Colin laughed. With a little luck, maybe, at long last, all of his dreams would come true.

****

The party had at last ended. Tails and Cosmo worked side by side cleaning up the mess.

"From what your mother said, the high council on your planet really fell apart that day she got into her big fight with Dark Oak," Tails said.

Cosmo nodded. "The men followed him, the women followed my mother."

"Guys are so violent and stupid!" Amy complained, collecting plates to take to the kitchen.

"Not all of them, Amy," Cosmo said, looking at Tails.

"Your mom didn't just seem like a politician, though," Tails said. "She was sort of more like a queen, wasn't she?"

"Something like that," Cosmo admitted.

"Wow. So you're a princess?" Cream asked.

Cosmo stopped her work and laid her head against the arm of Tails' couch. "Princess? Of a dead people and lifeless world? Our planet egg may have been restored when we stopped Lucas, but the Seedrians are still extinct. There are none left, except for me and Marcus…Red Pine."

"If you're the last female Seedrian," Amy said, "and Red Pine's the last male, then…"

Cosmo gasped. "No!" she cried. "I couldn't bare to let him…I'd sooner die again first!"

"Don't talk about dying!" Tails insisted, hugging her. "I swear, I will never let him near you!"

"Yeah, what Tails said!" Amy said.

"Right!" Cream said. "Uh…what would he want to do exactly?"

"Um…hey, did I tell you about my latest predictions?" Amy asked quickly, seeing Vanilla's eyes suddenly narrow. "I'll tell everybody's fortunes at the sleepover! Speaking of which, we should get started over to my house soon."

Cosmo looked over at Tails. "So suddenly?" she asked.

"It's okay," Tails assured her. "We have a lifetime ahead of us now."

Cosmo nodded. Then she remembered the spy device. "Tails? I hate to bring this up, but…when you get the chance, you really should check to make sure that thing that was in my brain is really gone. I don't want Red Pine using me as a spy the way Dark Oak did!"

Tails placed his hand on her forehead. "You said before that you could hear them inside of your head," he told her gently. "Have you heard anything today?"

"No," Cosmo assured him. "Nothing. But I didn't realize it was there before until he called me 'White Seed.' If…if I'm still 'White Seed'…what will you do?"

"It won't make the slightest bit of difference how I feel about you," Tails promised her. "But it _will_ make me want to track him down and finish what we thought we'd finished last year." Cosmo cringed. Tails looked so angry just then. She'd assumed her return would heal all of the scars her death had given him. But he was still letting his negative emotions take control over him.

"Tails," she said softly, brushing the hair off of his own forehead. "We don't want to kill anyone if we can possibly prevent it."

Tails looked shocked. "I--you're right, Cosmo. I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Tails," Cosmo promised, wrapping her arms around him. "I understand how you feel. But we're better than that."

"Yes, we are," Tails agreed, hugging her back. He made a mental note to run the scanners over her the next day. He wouldn't admit it, but the idea Red Pine was watching them, hearing everything they said, spying on them…it made him furious. But he'd seen how his temper upset her. He promised himself he'd get better control over himself.

The others prepared to leave. Amy opened Tails' front door. The sun had set, and it looked like snow. A shooting star flashed across the sky.

"Just like when we first met," Tails whispered.

"Yes," Cosmo agreed. "I followed them to your world. They were so beautiful."

"But the most beautiful shooting star landed not that far from here," Tails said, stepping outside with her. They watched for a few minutes.

"Oh, Cosmo," Amy said, "it's pretty cold outside. You'll need a coat. And what happened to those flip-flops you had? Your feet will freeze solid!"

"I'll get you a coat," Tails said, hurrying to his room. He opened his closet and dug through the gaudy clothes his mother had bought for him. He pulled out a black windbreaker and a dark blue coat. The coat had fur around the collar. He brought it back to her. Cosmo had located the flip-flops in the meantime.

"Oh, Tails, that looks beautiful," Cosmo said.

"Only the best for you," Tails assured her, helping Cosmo into the coat. He smiled. It looked girlish on him, but wonderful on her. "I…I just wish you didn't have to go so soon."

Cosmo turned to Vanilla. "Please," she said, "may Tails and I have a minute alone?"

Vanilla nodded, placing an arm around Cream and the other around Amy. She led them back inside. "We'll wait by the front door," she said.

Cosmo led Tails over to the window, where the others couldn't see them. She threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry…" she said softly. "I thought…" She blushed.

Tails hugged her back. "It's okay," he promised her. "Listen, I'll…" he lowered his voice. "I'll come by a little later and see you."

"I'll be waiting," Cosmo promised. She looked into his eyes. "Don't be sad, Tails, we're not being separated again like we were before. This is only for a little while. We'll have our entire lives together."

"Yeah," Tails said, shutting his eyes and taking in her scent. A thousand memories came back to him. "Yeah, we will! It's a promise!"

"And I keep my promises," Cosmo said. "I promised, when the Metarex were gone, that I'd come and live with you on your planet. I'm sorry I'm so very late."

"Fashionably late," Tails insisted. "The guest of honor always shows up once everyone else is there. I'm just sorry Rouge nearly ruined your welcome home party."

"I didn't realize she was so concerned about losing Knuckles," Cosmo told him. "I didn't like her insulting you, but I can understand her feelings. I'm sorry I kept pushing you to move on. Thank goodness Cream still wants to be my friend. I hope I can make it up to her."

"Of course you can," Tails said. "You were like sisters before. You don't lose a bond like that."

"Or a bond like you and I had either," Cosmo said, taking Tails' hands in hers.

"Sorry my hands are all sweaty," Tails said.

"That's just a part of who you are," Cosmo told him. "And there's so very much more I want to know about you. That I want you to know about me."

"Maybe tomorrow we could go someplace together?" Tails asked. He didn't add _After I run the scans on your brain. _He couldn't. "It's too cold for going to the park, but I could take you to a restaurant or something." _Where __**do**__ you take girls on a date? And who do I ask? Sonic? Knuckles?_

"Anywhere would be fine," Cosmo said softly. "Just as long as I'm with you."

"I have a plane," Tails reminded her. "Several, in fact. I can take you anywhere. If it's too cold, I can fly you to the other side of the world, and we could go to the beach."

Cosmo giggled. "I don't think that's quite necessary. But I'll keep that in mind." Then her face grew more thoughtful. "Tails? What if…what if your parents don't like me?"

"They will," Tails promised. "They'll have to. Because I'm not giving you up for any reason."

"So many people have said our love was wrong, because you're an animal, and I'm a plant. Sometimes, that was the only reason they seemed to have against us. Some just said it like they'd been taught that statement without even thinking about what it really meant. Our love _is _right, isn't it?"

"How can it be wrong?" Tails asked, holding her tightly. "It proved it was stronger than death." They kissed.

"Tails?" Cosmo said. "Your tails are wagging."

"That's because I'm happy," Tails said, smiling at her. He ran a finger across her lips.

"That tickles," she said.

"You never did tell me where else you're ticklish," Tails said teasingly.

Cosmo teased him right back. "That's still for me to know, and for you to find out!" She beeped his nose.

"Cosmo?" Vanilla called. "We really do need to go now, dear."

Tails and Cosmo embraced. "I'll see you soon," Cosmo promised, kissing him.

"I'll walk you to the door," Tails said. As they approached the others, Cream opened the front door.

"I'll…see you later…Tails," Cream said, stepping outside.

Cosmo turned at the door and kissed Tails once more. "Until we meet again," she said.

"And we will," Tails promised. "Very soon."

Cosmo stepped outside. Then she turned back towards Tails, still standing in the doorway. She blew him a kiss, and waved. Then she followed Amy, Cream, Anita, and Vanilla.

"Great party, kid," Vector said. "See you around."

"I really should be going as well," Espio said. He looked over at Cosmo, then turned back to Tails. "We've seen a miracle this day, my friend. Hold her close, and rejoice in every moment the two of you share together."

"I will," Tails promised. "Thank you, Espio."

Mighty and Ray followed Vector and Espio. Knuckles and Julie-Su brought up the rear.

"It couldn't have happened to a nicer person," Julie-Su told Tails. "Come on, Knuckles."

"Yeah," Knuckles said. He didn't quite look at Tails as he added, "Most people never get a second chance. You both must have a guardian angel looking out for you."

"I never used to believe in that kind of thing before," Tails admitted. "I'm a scientist. But these past months, I've been looking inward a lot. I know there are things we don't understand. What was it Chris' grandpa said? 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"

Knuckles looked confused. "Uh…okay," he said. As he and Julie-Su walked away, Tails thought he heard Knuckles ask, "Who's Horatio?"

Tails felt a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so glad this worked out," Sonic said. "I'm just sorry you had to go through so much before."

"Thank you, big brother," Tails choked out. "I never should have doubted you. You promised she'd be okay, and you've never lied to me."

"Well, not about anything important," Sonic admitted with a grin. "Since she's back, I know I don't have to worry about you tonight. Or any other night from now on."

"Feel free to drop in on me any time, though," Tails said. "Have I told you lately that you're my hero?"

Sonic ran his thumb under his nose. "Have I told you lately that you're my best friend? Just don't hug me again, okay?"  
"Sure," Tails said, rubbing at his eyes.

"Whoa, hey!" Sonic said, staring at the fox. "Why the tears?"

"I'm happy," Tails said. "Guess that makes me a girl, crying when I'm happy, huh?"

"Anybody that calls you a girl will have to answer to me," Sonic promised. "See you, Tails."

"See you, Sonic," Tails said. Then Sonic was gone, and Tails was alone again. But this time, his mind was filling with thoughts of the future. A future that would be happy. Another shooting star whizzed by, but the fox resisted the urge to make another wish. The most important wish of his life had already come true. He didn't want to jinx it by being greedy. Tails shut his front door and whistled as he made sure everything was cleaned up from the party and the attack by Rouge. He felt a moment of anger, thinking about the bat, but pushed it aside. Cosmo was alive. And that was all that mattered.

Alone with his thoughts, Tails did something he hadn't even thought to do in over a year. He put on fast music and started dancing like an idiot.

****

Far out in space, a figure in red went over his latest messages. The old fox still hadn't been found, and Shadow might very well be eliminated soon. That left Sonic. And Tails.

"Soon, my dear," he said. "Soon, I shall come for you! And the deeds of Dark Oak will be forgotten once Red Pine has make his mark on the galaxy! And, in time, other galaxies as well!"

****

I know, this chapter is very late, and much of it was about other characters. The spotlight will be moving back onto Tails and Cosmo very soon.

Happy New Year, everybody!


	7. Chapter 7: Growing Complications

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Seven

"Growing Complications"

Once Tails shut off the music and sat down to rest, he realized he didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted to dance on the rooftop and cry out his love for Cosmo. He wanted to write a sonnet for her. He wanted to laugh and he wanted to cry at the same time. He finally decided to do them both. _Wow, I'll bet I'd look crazy right now if anybody saw me! _He considered this for a few moments, then said, out loud, "And I don't care!"

Tails turned a somersault. He would have continued across the living room, but there was too much furniture for him to bump into.

"She's alive!" he suddenly yelled. He ran to a window, opened it, and stuck his head out. "She's alive! Cosmo is alive!"

_Okay, calm down now! You've held it together for nine nightmarish months! Don't lose it now!_

Tails went to his room and opened his closet. He moved several boxes until he found the one he was looking for. He peeled off a false Advanced Calculus book cover to reveal his personal journal. He'd hidden it to make sure his parents didn't find it and send him back to Happy Acres. He turned and stubbed his toe on one of the boxes he'd just moved.

"Ow! Doggonit!" He stepped over the boxes and opened his desk. He took a pen, and opened the journal about halfway. He now couldn't bare to read the earlier, despondent passages he'd written. Maybe he'd tear them up. He turned to the last entry:

February 5:

_It's getting a little easier now to accept the fact that I won't see Cosmo again in this world. I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life, but I do know that she wants me to be happy, and how can I keep letting her down? _

_It's funny, but I suddenly find myself remembering the first time I ran into her in the corridors of the Blue Typhoon. It was the morning after the first night we'd spent shipboard, and she was just coming out of the bathroom in a robe Amy had given her. She'd just washed her hair, and the way little beads of water had settled on her hair and flowers took my breath away. Was that when I first started thinking of her as something other than just a friend? Sure, I'd noticed Amy was pretty, and Cream was cute, and Rouge was…er, well, anyway…Cosmo was different. She was beautiful, but there was something more than that. I don't know. Maybe it was because she seemed so sad, so vulnerable, and I wanted to protect her. Later that day, Amy would mention that Cosmo had broken down and cried the night before. Because of her family and friends. And I felt angrier than I'd ever felt in my life. Eggman had done terrible things to us. Sonic's father is a robot. Bunny Rabbot is partially mechanized. But Eggman never just heartlessly slaughtered helpless women and children and laughed about it! I wanted the Metarex to pay. To suffer. The way Cosmo had suffered._

_But in the end, killing them didn't help. It didn't bring any of her family or friends back. And that devil Dark Oak's death didn't restore Cosmo. Even Super Sonic and Super Shadow couldn't do that, and I guess I was only deluding myself into thinking they could. _

_Thank you for getting me through this, Journal, I don't think I would have made it without you. But I think I've reached the point where you're starting to do me more harm than good. It's just about time I let go of the past and moved on with my life. _

Tails made a face. He'd finally given up hope. Just before she'd come back to him! He let the pen and book fall from his fingers, placed his head in his hands, and cried.

****

Cosmo followed Cream into Amy's house. She looked around. "My," she said, observing the pink curtains, pink rug, pink flowers in a pink vase on a pink end table, pink chairs, and pink couch, "everything is certainly…pink."

"Yup," Cream said. "When Amy likes something, she really, really likes it!"

"She's kind of obsessive, don't you think?" Anita suggested, hanging up her coat.

"What's that?" Amy asked from the hallway.

"I said you sure like pink," Anita said, following the other hedgehog. Since Cream also went into the hall, Cosmo decided to do the same.

Another pink rug. A bookcase against one wall. Cosmo looked at the books. Most had either "love" or "romance" in the titles. She would have asked about them, but the other girls had already gone into a room, and she hurried to follow them.

Unlike the living room, Amy's bedroom was all blue. Blue walls, blue curtains, blue carpet, blue bedspread, blue canopy over the bed, blue heart-shaped pillows on the bed. The only touch of pink were a few sheets of paper on her vanity table.

"My, everything is certainly…blue," Cosmo said. She made a mental note to try to stop making obvious statements. _You need to blend in more with your friends, Cosmo. Watch how they act and behave in a similar manner._

"Yup, it sure is," Cream said, sitting on Amy's windowsill.

Cosmo looked over at the little bunny. After they'd walked Miss Vanilla home, Cream had said good-bye to her mother and given her a hug, then followed her friends here. Cosmo thought of her own mother and clenched her fists. Cream would go home in the morning and find her mom waiting for her. Anita would see both of her parents, even if her father _was_ a robot. But Amy would always come home to an empty house. And Cosmo had no home at all.

_No, I will not cry! I promised my family I'd be happy, and I'm going to do that!_

Her troubled thoughts were interrupted as Amy suddenly let out a squeal and threw herself onto her bed. "I have been just dying to tell all of you about this dream I had!" She grabbed a heart shaped pillow and gave it a squeeze. "I'm all alone in a dark room, and terrible, shadowy figures are following me! Then suddenly _he_ shows up and saves me! And he says, 'Oh, Amy, I'm so glad you're all right!' And I say, 'You're my hero!' And he says, 'Oh, Amy! I love you so much! Let's get married!' And we had seven sons and seven daughters! And their names were…"

Cosmo blinked. Okay, maybe behaving too much like Amy Rose wouldn't be such a good idea. She was a good friend, and had become sort of a big sister and mother figure for her while they were fighting the Metarex, but…_She's…drooling…on her pillow. _

"Isn't that the coolest dream ever?" Amy demanded.

"But, Amy, isn't that a lot like one of those stories Mister Vector told about Cosmo and Tails at the party we had on the ship?" Cream asked.

Amy looked surprised. "What? No! Not the same thing at all, was it, Cosmo?"

"Uh…" Cosmo said, holding up her hands. "I…" _If I agree with Amy, Cream might be upset with me, and if I disagree, Amy will probably get angry. Quick, think of something to change the subject! _She looked around desperately, and finally said, "Is the inside of your closet blue as well, Amy?" _I am very bad at changing the subject!_

"Huh?" Amy said, looking at Cosmo. "Actually, it's lavender. That's blue and pink, you know."

"Oh," Cosmo said, nodding as if she understood what Amy was saying. Actually, she didn't have a clue. _I wonder if I'll ever really understand them? _Cosmo looked at the heart-shaped pillow. "Isn't that supposed to be red or pink?"

"Sure," Amy said, pulling back her bedspread to reveal two more heart-shaped pillows. These were red. "I have them too. But my room looks better if it's all one color, don't you think?"

"But you have a little pink over by your mirror, Amy," Cream pointed out.

"Oh no!" Amy cried. "Nobody read what's written on there!" Amy jumped up, catching her foot on the bedspread, and would have fallen on her face if Anita hadn't caught her. "Whoa! It's okay, Amy! I got you!"

"Are you okay, Amy?" Cream cried, giving her best friend a hug.

"Just embarrassed," Amy said. "What a stupid way to die, huh?"

"Don't talk that way, Amy!" Cream said, gasping. "I'm sure you would have just gotten hurt."

"Yeah, then you'd look like this," Anita said, crossing her eyes and twisting her jaw.

Amy rolled her eyes. "You know, one of these days, your face will freeze like that."

"Cool!" Anita said, unfazed. "I always did like gargoyles."

Cosmo gasped. "You don't really think that would happen, do you? I'd hate to see any of you looking that way permanently!"

"It wouldn't really happen, Cosmo," Amy said, giggling. She patted the plant girl on the head, then turned to Anita. "See what I mean? She takes everything literally."

"Yup, I see," Anita said.

Cosmo looked away. "Don't make fun of me," she said, pouting. She folded her arms. "I'm trying my very best to fit in! I can't help it if there are customs and figures of speech you use that I don't understand."

"It's okay, Cosmo," Cream assured her. "I'm only just now getting a lot of things I didn't understand before. Maybe we can learn these things together."

"I don't want to slow your progress down, Cream," Cosmo said.

Cream plopped down onto Amy's bed and motioned for Cheese to come to her. She gave the chao a big hug. "Oh, I'm sure you'll do just fine, Cosmo. And it's nice having somebody around that doesn't make me feel like a big dummy! Oh! Uh…I'm not saying you're a dummy or anything like that!"

Cosmo sat down on the floor beside the bed. "That's okay, Cream. Sometimes I feel like one."

"You need to have more faith in yourself," Cream said, shutting her eyes. "Tails does."

"I'll try," Cosmo promised, laying her head against the bed. She was starting to feel very tired.

****

Tails wrapped a green scarf around his neck. He wondered if it was too soon to go and see Cosmo?

"Calm down, Tails," he muttered to himself. "You waited nine months, you can wait a little longer." He placed a hand over his face. Great. He was talking to himself!

_A gift!_ _I should get her something for her return! But what?_ He knew she loved to daydream and look at the stars, but he couldn't exactly wrap either of those things. An umbrella wouldn't be romantic. She loved swimming. Maybe a swimsuit? What else? He blushed as he had a sudden mental image of walking into a lingerie store and buying her something with lots of lace on it. He shook his head to drive that thought out.

_What are you trying to do, scare her again? Or yourself? _

Tails tried to think of someone he could ask about getting a girl gifts. Sonic had a tendency to run from girls, Knuckles had a tendency to chase them away. He supposed he could ask Antoine, but he had never really liked that guy. Especially after he'd made pancakes one day, and gotten a long lecture on what he'd done wrong. Okay, so they were ugly and misshapen, they'd tasted fine, and that was the important thing, wasn't it?

_Would she like flowers? Maybe I should get her some._

He went into his room and opened his closet. He pressed a hidden switch. It opened, and walked down a flight of steps to a huge underground hangar. If he was going to get Cosmo gifts, he'd need a lot of money, and he didn't keep much in his house. He approached the Blue Typhoon. For the first time in months, he didn't cringe to see it. It had taken her from him, but it hadn't kept her away. He pressed a numerical code beside the door. It slid open. He stepped inside.

His footsteps echoed in the huge empty corridors. For far too long, it had been a sad, lonely sound to his ears. But, whereas before it had seemed to whisper to him of a lifetime of heartache and sorrow, now it suggested a better time was coming.

He went to his room. Nothing was inside except his bed, the sheets and blankets and pillows thick with dust. He shook them out onto the dusty floor.

"I am so going to have to start taking care of this place again!" he said out loud. His voice echoed. It was a little spooky, but Tails had encountered a ghost some months ago, and had not been afraid. Maybe he was finally getting over his fear of the supernatural. Of course, the ghost had been the girl he loved, so maybe other spirits would still bother him. Not that it mattered. There wouldn't be any ghosts on his ship. Not unless one of the Metarex were haunting it.

"I'd better stop trying to scare myself," Tails muttered, climbing under his bed. He pressed a button. A panel opened up in the floor, revealing the face of a safe. Tails scratched his head for a minute. What had been the combination again? He had it written down on a piece of paper in his room, but he didn't want to go all the way back again.

"Ah! Got it!" 32-10-28-5-36. The safe opened. Tails pulled out a couple of handsful of gold rings. He'd sold a few patents during the time they'd spent on Mobius after returning from Earth. He'd stuffed all his money in here, even though he'd had no way of knowing if rings could be used on other planets. It had turned out that they were extremely valuable on some planets, while considered worthless or even just plain weird on others. The marmolimians had given him a armful of charms for a couple. Not that they seemed to work, but you never could tell.

Tails closed the safe, spun the dial, and closed the panel. He started to get up. Bump!

"Ouch! Doggonit!" How could he have forgotten he was under a bed?

Tails rubbed his head as he climbed out. He stuffed the rings into the pockets of his coat.

"Okay, time to get some gifts for the girl I love!"

****

"Chaos spear!"

Shadow cursed as the robot emerged from the smoke of his blast. It didn't look like it had even had its paint scratched. Force screen? How was he supposed to fight one of those?

"Observation: This unit has taken the best its quarry can undertake. Statement: Successful termination is eminent!"

"Will you shut up already?!?" Shadow yelled, spin dashing the robot. He pushed it back a bit, but didn't seem to have harmed it. Was it really too powerful for him? No. He was the Ultimate Lifeform! He would not be beaten by a machine!

But it appeared Omega had other ideas. The automaton's right arm reconfigured into its flame thrower attachment. Shadow sprang into the air, leaping and tumbling to avoid the gouts of fire. He made a face as he noted the trees and grass nearby catch fire. This battle would cause great damage to the forest. Months ago, he wouldn't have cared, but after the time he'd spent in the woods, he'd begun to feel a sense of peace he hadn't known since the ARK. He imagined it all burned to the ground, and realized he did not want to see that happen.

Shadow leaped onto Omega's shoulders. "Chaos spear!" He threw the glowing energy into what passed for the machine's face, then leaped away. Omega's head began to spin. His arms moved about comically. Shadow grinned. It was a ghastly sight. "I'll take you down yet!"

"Negative!" Omega said, stabilizing. "You shall go be exterminated, Shadow the Hedgehog!" He activated his jets and raced at Shadow. Shadow dodged left and right, ducking and jumping over the machine's attacks. He attempted to leap onto the machine's shoulders again, but was swatted away.

_Blast. I forgot he can't be fooled by the same trick twice! _Shadow's eyes narrowed. He decided to try for where the left arm connected to the body. He ran to the right, and when Omega moved to intercept him, suddenly leaped and started kicking at the robot's left shoulder. He managed several dozens of kicks within the two or three seconds it took Omega to recognize the feint and move accordingly. Another trick he couldn't try again. But he was pretty sure he'd heard something make a dull clunking sound just before he'd ceased his attack. He cracked his knuckles. Time to get serious. He sprang into the air, propelling himself towards the robot. He snarled as he allowed his anger to engulf him. He threw his hands out in front of him permitting a feeling of hatred and ugliness to pervade his soul. "Chaos blast!"

****

"Oh, Mister Kintobor!" Helen said as the skinny little man with the big nose entered the cafeteria at Thorndyke Industries. "I'm sorry Chris and Chuck couldn't make with you today, but they're at a big meeting with Chris' dad about a government contract!"

Colin snorted as he took his lunch bag from the refrigerator and opened it. "That's…quite all right, ma'am," he said, taking out a slice of French toast. "I can understand that they're important people with no time to waste on the little folk like me." _Think they're better than me, do they?_

Helen wheeled over to him and patted his arm. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that," she said. "I used to do that a lot when I was little. But I learned better. Chris and Sonic and their friends helped me to accept my shortcomings, and find out what I was good at. You obviously have a lot of talent with electronics and mechanics, and there's no limit to how you can go if you really apply yourself."

Colin looked at the girl in the wheelchair. She really seemed to mean it. She was a fool, just like everyone that palled around with the Thorndykes, but she was a nice fool. He looked over her wheelchair. State of the art, to be sure, but how was it that idiot Chris had been spending years working on a dimensional transporter when the girl he was supposed to love more than anything couldn't walk? _Maybe he likes Technicolor hedgehogs more than he likes her. What a ludicrous popinjay that boy was! She were my girl, my first interest would be getting her out of that chair!_

Helen smiled as she reached for the control on her chair. "I'll see you later, Mister Kintobor. Don't work too hard now!"

"Oh, I won't," Colin said, microwaving his pate de foie gras. "Don't you worry about me, miss!"

_Another week or so, and I think I'll be able to make the transference! I'll set the machine to blow so no one can follow me! Of course, the blueprints will have mysteriously "disappeared" by then, so even if that fool Chris tries to rebuild it, it should take him years! By which point, I have no doubt I'll rule this other world! _

Still, he was an honorable man. It occurred to him that another of his pet projects might help out that nice crippled girl. He'd look into it before he left. Make her and that idiot always know what a true genius he was.

_Yes, before I go, I'll see that pretty little thing walk. And make sure they know they will always owe me! I can afford to be magnanimous, after all! Since I'm soon going to be king and everything!_

****

Merlin sighed with relief when he was finally called to a doctor's office. _Finally! I'm sure a reasonable person like a doctor will immediately understand the mistake that's been made, and let me out of here!_

"The doctor will see you now, sir," he was told. He stepped into a small, sterile office, painted eggshell white, and looked into the doctor's eyes, hoping to make the meeting as short as possible.

"My name is Merlin Prower," he said in a firm but non-threatening voice. "I was brought here through a misunderstanding, and need to be released as quickly as possible!"

The doctor, an ermine, sat in his chair, writing in a notebook. He didn't seem to be listening. Merlin sighed. "Uh…hello? Excuse me, but this is really important! You see, I was attacked by a robot, and I need to warn my nephew that more may be on the way."

He cringed as he realized how crazy that sounded. The doctor looked up at him. "I see," he said with a thick accent, "you were attacked by one of Doctor Eggman's robots, and…"

Merlin shook his head. "No, this wasn't one of his. I've seen enough of his robots to immediately recognize that it was something else. And that's why I need to speak with my nephew. You may have heard of him: Miles Prower." When the doctor didn't respond, he added, "People tend to call him Tails the Fox. He has two tails. His best friend is Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The doctor nodded. "You know a lot of famous people," he said. "Why do you suppose that is?"

Merlin snorted. "You're trying to say I imagine I know important people because my life is dull and lonely. If you won't believe my words, perhaps you'll believe this." He muttered a few words, and touched the fingertips of his left hand to the fingertips of the right, his arms forming an arch. His arms began to glow, and a rainbow rose from them, expanding until they reached from one end of the room to the other. He smiled. "Surely you don't doubt me now when I tell you I'm a wizard?"

The doctor stared at the rainbow for a few moments, then looked back at Merlin. "That's very pretty. We've had patients here with special abilities before, however."

Merlin stared at the doctor. "Look," he said, "it's obvious that you've been working at your job too long, and you probably need a rest. Is there someone else I can speak with?"

The doctor smirked. "Oh, are you analyzing me now? If you wish to speak with Doctor Gantan, she'll be back late tomorrow afternoon, but she probably won't be able to see you until the next morning. That's a good trick, though. Did you perform at parties? I knew a fellow that could pour clear water from a pitcher into glasses, and it would come out a different color in each glass."

Merlin winced. "That's a magic trick. And it's dangerous. The substances for that trick are very toxic."

The doctor seemed interested in this. "And how long have you been studying poisons, Mister Prower?"

Merlin ran his hand through his hair. Blowing a hole in the wall and making a run for it was looking better and better all the time!

****

Tails spun his tails and flew to the new mall. It was small compared to the ones on Earth, and not expected to last very long, what with the fact that Eggman's robots tended to step on anything big and noticeable. He landed and entered the mall at the food court. He made a mental note to bring Cosmo here some day and let her try out some foods she was unfamiliar with, but he had no interest in getting anything to eat at the current time. His stomach was in knots. He walked up to a triangular sign. It featured advertisements for shoes on one side, women's clothing on a second, and a map of the mall on the third side. He checked where he was, then looked over the possible choices. Jewelry store was out. He couldn't afford something like that. Shoes would make him feel like a moron. And they probably wouldn't fit her feet anyway. Women's lingerie…Why did that keep jumping into his head? Maybe in a few years, but not now.

"Candy! Candy's always good! Okay…there's a candy store down…that way. And…the big department store here has all kinds of stuff. If I can't find something good for her there, then I'm just a loser!"

People passing by stared at him. Tails blushed, realizing he was thinking out loud.

He started towards the candy store. It was closer, and he knew from Amy and Cream that girls loved candy. He stepped into the shop and looked around. There were boxes of different sizes and shapes. Would heart-shaped be too much this early in their relationship? Well, they _had_ admitted their love for each other. He shook his head. He was second guessing himself. In his workshop or while in combat, considering all the options possible was the best solution. But in cases like this, he suspected it was best to just go with what felt right.

He was just about to pick up a heart-shaped box when he suddenly found himself wondering what kind of candy Cosmo would like. Caramels? Nuts? Fruit centers? Dark chocolate? White chocolate? So many decisions! He decided at last to get an assortment. There was bound to be something in there Cosmo would enjoy. Then he'd watch which kind she preferred and be sure to get her that sort next time.

He brought the box up to the cashier. A ferret in a black sweater and red skirt smiled at him. "Aww…are you getting that for a little friend for Valentine's Day, honey?"

Tails blushed. "Uh…actually, it's a…housewarming gift. The girl I'm giving this to has been…out of town for a long time."

The ferret patted him on the head. "How cute! And do you wuv her?"

Tails looked away. He hated teenaged salesgirls! They always talked down to him. "Please, ma'am, could you ring this up? I have another stop to make."

"Well, aren't you the little romantic," she said, giggling. "You're sure different from the morons I've gone out with. I'm lucky if they give me a stick of gum!"

"Well, maybe you need to associate with a higher quality of fellow," Tails muttered as she bagged the box of candy.

"What was that, young man?" she asked, handing him the bag. Tails winced. Talking out loud was going to get him into trouble yet!

"I was saying…they should have candy that's yellow. Or green." D'oh! That sure sounded mature.

"You're right," she said to his surprise. "We should have red and pink chocolates for Valentine's. But don't look at me, I just work here. I'm Marcia. What's your name, cutie?"

"Miles, but they call me Tails," he said. "Because I have two of them."

"Why so you do, I hadn't noticed!" Marcia said. "Well, bye bye! Hope your girl likes her present."

"Me too," Tails admitted, hurrying away. She seemed nice, but he didn't need girls embarrassing him like that in front of Cosmo. Why couldn't older people take him more seriously?

Tails hurried to the department store. There was a small booth in front, and a hamster with a name badge that read "TRAINIE" offered to hold his package until he came back. He stepped into the store and checked a chart telling where everything was.

"Clothing first floor…furniture basement…toys and sports equipment second floor…guess I'll try clothing first," he decided. He followed the women's clothing until he reached girls' clothes. The problem was, he didn't know what size Cosmo wore. Well, he could still get her a scarf.

Tails was just about to choose a green scarf when he noticed he was wearing one. Then he noticed a yellow scarf. _I'm wearing her color. Would she like it if I got her mine? _He looked through the yellow scarves, finally stopping as he came across one with the outlines of trees in green. "Perfect!" he cried, then looked around, embarrassed. As he hurried away, he noticed a bathing suit, green with pink flowers on it, hanging on a rack. _Perfect! And a swimsuit doesn't have to exactly fit, does it? _He grabbed it and went on his way. He was eager to see Cosmo again, and this was taking too much time. He rushed past a section that sold watches and jewelry. He already had a watch for her, and he couldn't afford jewelry. He entered a section with towels and bathmats.

_Towels? Why am I looking for towels for her?!?_ He shook his head and moved on to the greeting cards. He looked through these. Surely there was a good "Welcome home!" card somewhere among them. Of course, he could use his computer and printer to make her a card, but that wouldn't be the same thing.

****

Cosmo sat in Amy's chair, watching the other girls. Amy, Cream, Anita…they all made it look so easy to let go of their problems and just be normal children. _Have I forgotten how to be normal? I tried my best on the Blue Typhoon, but thoughts of revenge kept leaping into my mind. Having too much fun after what the Evilship did to my family and friends made me feel so guilty! Poor Tails. I know exactly how he felt those past months. I panicked and saved myself while everyone around me died, while he was forced to shoot me to save his family and friends. If our roles had been reversed, I could not have done it, and we would have all perished! _

_You must all let me do it! Call back Sonic and Shadow please. I'll help you to create a world of future and liberty! _

Cosmo shook her head. Those memories upset her. She didn't want to relive the final moments of her first life. Not now, when her new life was just beginning. But the more she tried not to think of them, the more they came back to her.

_I'm in place! You can do your shot now! I'm directly linked to the body of this monster by my body as you can see. I beg you, shoot on me and you will be able to destroy him!_

_Monster._ She'd called him a monster, and he had certainly fit that description. Was she being naïve for wanting to believe that he had changed? That Lucas and Dark Oak were not entirely one and the same?

_Thank you all for accepting me. I always thought I was useless. That I was unable to do anything, and that I couldn't do something for someone. But you helped me to regain trust in myself, and this feeling will never disappear. Whatever happens, I will stay by your side forever._

That had been easy for her to say at the time. She had been convinced she was dead and gone, and would soon be in a better place. And so she soon had been. With her mother and sisters and all of her people. _All of my people. That sounds so sad. I am alone now. Except for Red Pine. And if he comes for me, my friends and I must be prepared to watch the last male of my species perish. I hate him, but I do not want the Seedrians to disappear from the living world forever! If only--if only there were others. Females not killed by the Metarex. Males not corrupted by evil. Tails and Sonic and the others stopped them, and saved the galaxy. But it's too late for us! When I pass again from this world, my people cease to be for all of time!_

"Hey, Cosmo," Amy said, "you listening?"

Cosmo jumped. "What? Oh, yes, Amy! Go on with what you were saying!"

"I said here's a nightgown you can wear," the hedgehog repeated, tossing a frilly pink dress at her.

"Oh, thank you, Amy," Cosmo said, looking at it. It had a thick fringe around the collar, sleeves, and hemline. "It's very pretty. Are you sure you don't want it anymore."

"Getting a bit small for me," Amy said, pulling on a bright red gown with a blue rose in front. "Besides, I really like this one I found recently with this blue rose. I think it's perfect for me, don't you think?"

Cosmo looked at it for a moment. "Oh, I see. Your name is rose, and it's blue like Sonic."

Amy nodded, fastening it in the back. "Yup! Too bad blue roses don't exist naturally. They had some on Chris' planet, but they were genetically engineered."

Cosmo nodded. "I know about genetic engineering," she said. "Some was done on me before I was born."

The others turned and stared at her. _I am going to have to remember not to volunteer information!_

****

The Marmolimians ran as the Metarex soldiers marched upon them. There were not many left, but they were well constructed and well armed, and even a few were very dangerous for someone lacking the powers of the warriors of the light. They met with no resistance as the robots marched through the streets, turning over carts and stepping on merchandise.

One soldier saluted as his commander approached. "The village is ours, Princess!"

Pink Andromeda nodded. "Of course it is. Was there ever any doubt? We are the Metarex! We cannot be defeated! Now, take me to the ruler of this village!"

The elder, Gana, looked up from his card reading as he heard the clanking of metal footsteps on cobblestones. "What's all the racket out there?"

The curtain to his room was parted by gleaming metal. He gasped. "Metarex! But…but I thought you were all gone now!"

"Not quite," Pink Andromeda said, stepping into the room. "The greatest of the kings, Red Pine, still remains! And you, old one, have something he wants!"

Gana gathered his cards together. "If you're looking for jewels or precious metals, we don't have any. You may take any charms you want, but then I'll have to ask you to go."

Andromeda struck his table with her armored fist. Crack! It didn't quite break apart, but was severely damaged. "You will give the Red King anything he wishes, old man! Is that perfectly clear?" She drew a thin fencing blade.

Old Gana put up his hands. "Please! I'm unarmed and non-violent! Just take whatever you want! You can have all we can offer you!"

Andromeda nodded. "Then listen closely, if you want to stay healthy!"

As she spoke, he showed surprise, then shock, then, at last, weary acceptance. "Very well," he said sadly. "You shall have it! And may I be forgiven for giving it to you!"

As Pink Andromeda walked away, a fearful pink Marmoline offered her a tray of cookies. "W-would you l-like some c-cookies, M-mister Conqueror?"

"Of course," she said, removing her helmet. "But I'm not a mister."

Girl gasped. "Y-you look like my friend, Cosmo!"

The Seedrian's eyes grew wide, then narrowed. She grabbed a few cookies, stuffed them into her mouth, chewed noisily, then grabbed the female alien by the head.

"What do you know about Cosmo?" she demanded in a childishly cruel voice.

****

Tails held onto Cosmo's gifts carefully as he as he left the mall. A shooting star flew overhead. "Thanks anyway, buddy," he said softly, "but I already have everything I'll ever need. Somebody else can wish on you." He laughed, realizing he was talking to a meteor. Or was he? He had thought Cosmo was a meteor until the escape pod she was using had crashed in the meadow. Who could say how many shooting stars were lost visitors from other worlds.

"I'm either getting poetic, or hysterical," he decided, chuckling softly to himself. He started walking towards Amy's house. He would have flown, but he was weighted down with presents, and afraid he'd damage something in flight.

"Sure hope I don't get mugged tonight of all nights," he said as he walked through an alley. Not that he couldn't take off out of reach if he needed to do so, but he didn't want anything else to spoil this day. Well, maybe in time the memories of Rouge's troublemaking and Cosmo's fearful confession would fade, and only the most important part of that day, the fact that Cosmo had returned to him, would really matter.

As Tails picked up the pace, suddenly very eager to see her again, he realized it had been awhile since they'd heard from the Eggman. That was always a bad sign. It no doubt meant he was up to something big. But Tails forced such gloomy thoughts from his mind. Tails was sick of Eggman ruining his life and the lives of his friends and family. He was _not_ going to ruin Cosmo's return!

****

As Bokkun returned to Eggman's base, he wondered how his boss would react when he learned Cosmo was alive. He'd managed to convince the doctor that her plant had been destroyed long ago. He would not be happy to learn otherwise. Eggman did not take disappointment easily.

Luckily, the obese man was happily sitting back in his easy chair, glass of wine in one hand, watching some weird comedy on a monitor. Bokkun tried to follow the storyline for a few minutes, but he just didn't get why one fat man would find the misadventures of another funny.

He decided to tiptoe past his leader, and quickly proceeded to stub his toe on a large metal bolt no doubt misplaced and forgotten from the last time Eggman had decided to bring an invention into his living room to finish working on. "Ow!"

"Back so soon, Bokkun?" Eggman asked, sounding in a good mood.

The little messenger robot decided to play innocent. "Ah, yeah, boss! Ha ha ha!" He tried continuing to the storage closet where he usually slept.

"So what did you do after I tossed you out?" the inventor asked, scratching his huge belly with his free hand. "How much mayhem did you commit?"

Bokkun struggled to think. "Uh, well, I…annoyed one of those dumb Chaotix detectives," he said. "What _is_ his name? Pay? Say? Anyway, I drove him up the wall. Then I bummed food off of somebody…"

Bokkun stopped suddenly. The idea that he had done exactly that, bummed food off of Cream, didn't sit at all well with him.

_What have I ever done for her? _He looked down at the floor, disgusted with himself, and gave the bolt a kick. It flew through the air, hitting Eggman's knee.

"Ow! You imbecile!" Eggman cried, grabbing his knee and thereby spill the contents of his glass into his lap. "Argh! Just wait until I get my hands on you! And I was feeling so good, knowing that there will soon be one less thorn in my side!"

"Uh…huh?" Bokkun said, backpedaling as the human set his now nearly empty glass down on the arm of his chair and stood up, flab jiggling. Sometimes, Bokkun would watch his boss' stomach or chin wobble, fascinated by the way the fat bounced around, but right now was not a good time. He decided his best option was to run, and raced through Eggman's home and into his yard, Eggman in hot pursuit.

"I'm sorry, boss! I'm sorry!"

"Oh, you're sorry, all right" Eggman said, grabbing a broom out of the hands of a servant droid. "You're the sorriest excuse for an assistant a mad scientist could ever have! And when I get my hands on you, you'll be even sorrier!"

****

Tails held onto Cosmo's gifts carefully as he flew over Amy's gate. She had insisted on having one awhile back, suddenly remembering the one around Frances' house on Earth. He landed just past Amy's rose bushes, and walked up her driveway. He stopped suddenly. Would it offend any of the other girls if he showed up with so many gifts for Cosmo? Well, Amy and Anita might understand, but he could tell that Cream was still smarting from the realization that whatever dreams she may have had of herself and Tails being together would never be. Cream was his best friend now except for Sonic. He didn't want to hurt her. Maybe he should set the gifts down somewhere and give them to Cosmo in private? But she'd still be bound to show them to the others. He'd begged her to be honest with him. There was no way she was going to keep secrets from her best friends.

****

Cosmo swallowed hard as three pairs of eyes seemed to bore into her very soul. "Uh…what was that about your dream again, Amy?"

"Never mind about that," Amy said, leaning forward until her head was just inches from Cosmo's. "What do you mean you were genetically engineered?"

Cosmo looked down at Amy's rug. "Dark Oak was unbelievable powerful," she said softly. "He even defeated Super Sonic. But…but somehow I was able to merge with him and lower his defenses. I don't have the slightest idea how I did that. Except for when vines attacked us all that time I was holding a planet egg, I never seemed to have any powers, and I certainly couldn't control them on that day. I can make vines attack people that try to hurt my friends now without an egg, but my control still isn't there." Her eyes grew distant. "But the power necessary to stop Dark Oak…I absorbed all of the energy my amulet possessed, but it couldn't have been that powerful. If it had been, Galaxina and the others could have defeated the Metarex on that awful day they caught up with us!" She clenched her fists. "I could have saved them all! Galaxina…Starla…Nova…Sunflower…Mother! If I'd only known how!"

Cream put her arms around her. "No, Cosmo! You can't think that way! You did the very best you could!"

"I should have done better!" Cosmo insisted. "I _will_ do better! No one else dies while I hide in a corner!"

"Who's that knocking at the door?" Anita asked.

"Why don't you go see, Cosmo?" Amy asked, giving her a wink.

"Huh?" Cosmo said, getting up and going to the front door.

****

Tails knocked again on the door. He gasped as he lost his grip on one of Cosmo's packages. He struggled to catch it, just as the door opened. The bag with the swimsuit ended up on Cosmo's head.

"Uh…hello?" Cosmo said.

"Oh no!" Tails cried. As he grabbed the package, the others fell, knocking Cosmo down. "Cosmo!" he cried. "I'm so sorry!" He tried to help her up, tripped on the same bag, and fell on her.

****

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8: The End Of The First Day

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Eight

"The End of The First Day"

Tails felt his face grow hot as he struggled to get up. "S-sorry!" he cried. "Sorry sorry sorry!"

Cosmo looked away, also blushing. "It's…it's all right, Tails. I…I've been really clumsy too sometimes."

Tails suddenly realized he had an audience. Amy, Cream, and Anita had all raced into the room to see what the commotion was. So much for hoping the others wouldn't stare at his gifts. Then he realized they weren't paying any attention to the presents. They were noticing that he was still…

"This isn't what it looks like!" Tails said quickly, struggling to help Cosmo up.

"If it was, I would have clobbered you," Amy said, grinning mischievously.

"You don't really expect us to believe it was an accident, do you?" Anita asked, giving Tails a smirk.

Tails sputtered. "St-stop it!" Just the thought was making him dizzy.

"You really went all out, getting Cosmo all this, Tails!" Amy said, picking up a package. She peeked inside. "Candy! And not the cheap stuff, either!"

Anita grinned as she grabbed the package. "I hate the cheap stuff!"

Amy nodded. "We all hate the cheap stuff!" she said, picking up another package. "Only idiots get their girl that junk! What's in here?"

Tails sweat dropped. Were they going to tell Cosmo about everything he'd gotten her? He looked back at the plant girl. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Cosmo nodded. "Yes, Tails, I'm fine. Please don't worry. I'm not any more fragile now than I was before. At least I don't think I am." She yawned suddenly. "Oh, sorry! You're not boring me, Tails, honest! I guess I'm just getting a bit tired."

"Well, you did just come back to life," Cream said. "Maybe you should go and lie down after you've talked to Tails for a little while." The little bunny turned and walked away.

Cosmo turned around. "Thank you, Cream, I think I…will." She sighed.

Tails patted her hand. "It's okay," he said softly. "She's going to get through this."

Cosmo nodded, taking his hand. "I know," she whispered. "I just wish I hadn't encouraged her. This is my fault, Tails!"

Tails shook his head. "You can't blame yourself, Cosmo," he insisted, noticing Amy and Anita were going through everything he'd gotten the plant girl.

"Why doesn't your brother ever get me pretty stuff like this?" Amy demanded of the other hedgehog.

Anita shrugged. "Guess you don't scare him enough. Or too much."

Amy gave her a look that would have peeled paint. Anita ignored it.

****

Shadow leaped at Omega's head. He screamed in rage as he smashed the robot's visual receptors, over and over and over, his hands blurs. He leaped away as Omega reached for him.

Omega's arms began to rotate. "Error! Error! Error!"

"Serving Eggman was an error," Shadow said, racing at the robot again. This time he worked the legs, his own blurs of motion as he kicked again and again. Omega's right arm swung around and sent Shadow flying. The hedgehog landed on his feet. "I made that mistake," he said, spin dashing the robot. "And now you're doing the same. I know you can't help it, you're just an automaton he built, but I can't have you attacking me again and again! So you're going down!"

As Omega tried to grab at him, Shadow leaped onto his back. He tossed several chaos spears into it. The robot's jets smoldered as they were fried. Shadow grinned. This thing wasn't going to be flying without a complete overhaul. And he didn't intend to give it one.

Omega finally grabbed Shadow. "Negative, Project Shadow! Objective has been captured! Annihilation will now proceed as scheduled!"

Shadow grabbed at the base of Omega's head, his neck, more of less. "Chaos Blast!"

Omega fell over backwards, pulling Shadow down with him. The robot went wild, arms and legs flailing. "Critical error! Cannot compute!"

Shadow leaped into the air, then came spinning into his opponent with all his strength. He bounced repeatedly off of Omega, like a super charged pinball. Omega struggled to get up, but Shadow picked the robot up and ran for the nearest hill. He raced up it, planning to toss Omega over the side. Flames suddenly struck his back. Shadow cried out. The machine fell on top of him with a crash.

"Now you will be destroyed!" Omega cried. He struggled to his feet like a drunk. The automaton lifted Shadow in the air, ready to dash him over the edge. "Mission accomplished! Shadow the Hedgehog is now dead!"

Shadow, playing possum, grabbed onto Omega's arms and pulled with all his strength. Off balance, the robot teetered for a moment on the edge of the cliff. Shadow hurled a chaos spear at his back. Omega's arms waved wildly, then he went over the edge.

"Mission still accomplished!" Omega yelled, holding tightly to Shadow. "We die together!"

Shadow grinned ghoulishly. "That's what you think! Chaos control!" Shadow vanished. Omega attempted to activate his jets. Sparks flew wildly from the mangled metal. Almost, almost they began to function. But the ground rushed up too quickly. The ground shook violently as Omega struck.

Shadow wiped at his forehead. "Too close! But the machine still hasn't been built that can defeat the Ultimate Life Form!" Despite his bravado, Shadow realized he was exhausted. Any further improvements by Eggman, and he'd be in serious trouble. He _had_ to get his hands on a real, functioning chaos emerald again! No matter what he might have to do to get it.

****

Knuckles stood in front of the Master Emerald. It was now in two pieces of roughly the same size. They were pulsating as if attempting to reestablish contact with each other. Not yet, he decided, but soon. Very soon. He raised his arms over his head, and intoned the chant of his ancient ancestors.

"The servers are the seven chaos! Chaos is power! Power is enriched by the heart! Master Emerald, hurry and heal yourself, so that all the world might know your power!"

The Master Emerald began to glow softly. Knuckles watched in anticipation. Then the glow faded. Nothing seemed to have changed. Knuckles sighed. "Well, we'll try again later today, okay?" He turned and walked away.

Knuckles was of two minds here. On the one hand, it would be good to have the Master Emerald whole and perfect once more. On the other hand, he had had an interesting time, not having to worry about guarding it. A pair of slinky eyes in a slinky costume jumped into his head, but he shook the image away. He was through with that bat, after all. Julie-Su was his woman now.

"Now?" Why had he thought that? "Now." Such a simple word, but it suggested ideas he couldn't deal with. Didn't want to deal with.

"I don't know why I ever thought I could trust her anyway," he muttered to himself, walking away from the shrine to his personal vineyard. He looked over the grapes that grew there. Not too many ripe at this time. Well, he'd have to make do with what he had. After all, he was a Guardian. It was his duty to live frugally. To suffer. To accept there were things in the world that he could not understand or change. It was a lonely lifestyle, but it was his, and he'd come to accept it as such.

After all, it was the only life he really knew.

****

Rouge flew into a cave outside of town and landed in a small alcove. She looked around at the jewels and other items she had "borrowed" over the years. Suddenly, they didn't seem so appealing to her. She sat down in a chair that someone had tossed out of their home. There was a small hole on one side, but it had been easily patched. It didn't look like much, but it was still good.

"Stupid plant girl!" she muttered. "Because of her, my life is ruined! I'm a wanted criminal again, and even worse, Knuckles will probably never speak to me again!" She picked up a paperweight and through it across the room. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead right over her eyes.

"What was I thinking, attacking somebody I knew everybody, including Knuckles, would rush to defend? Dumb, Rouge! Really dumb!"

The bat reclined her chair and shut her eyes. She'd fallen asleep in this way on numerous occasions. But she was too angry now to think about sleep.

"Okay," she told herself. "Get a grip, Rouge. Instead of pouting about something you can't change, you should think about the future. Let's see…Tails and Sonic and Knuckles are all going to keep wanting to protect her. That's how big, dumb, chivalrous men are. Going after her again would be foolish. So even though I'd like to slap her silly, that's just going to cause me more trouble. No, I have to force myself to be nice to the little whiner. The problem is, nobody will give me a chance to do that now. If I'm seen near her, they'll rush to her rescue and I'll have to make a run for it. What to do, what to do?"

Rouge got up, paced into her kitchen. Sure, the cupboards didn't match, but why should that matter? It wasn't like she ever had any company. She opened one cupboard, took a tea bag from a box, then open a second cupboard and set down a cup. She was just filling the cup with water from her sink when it hit her.

"Of course! The perfect solution! And dear sweet little Cosmo will actually end up thanking me!"

Rouge whistled as she finished making her tea.

****

Momo whimpered.

"Please don't hurt me! I don't know anything!"

Pink Andromeda gripped her arm. "Tell me what you know about Cosmo!"

"I-I just know that she and her friends came here last year and the one called Sonic saved our world!

And this girl, Amy, bought a very strong love charm to use on Sonic, but Cosmo and Tails ended up using it instead and falling from the Rock of Romance into the Lake of Love, so they're now bonded in love forever and ever. I promise, that's really all I know! Please don't hurt me!"

Andromeda stared at her. "That's all? You have to know more than that! She was with Sonic the Hedgehog? And other animals? Yes?"

Momo sobbed. "Yes, Sonic and Amy and Tails and…"

"Tell me more about Cosmo and this Tails," Pink Andromeda demanded. "You say they're bonded forever? How do you mean?"

Momo seemed confused by the question. "You know," she said, gesturing with her hands. "Bonded. Like in love!"

Pink Andromeda turned her head from side to side. "Love? You mean they can't stand to be apart from each other?"

Momo nodded. "Please, you're hurting my wrist!"

Andromeda slammed her against a post. "I'll do more than hurt your wrist! They still love each other, even though she's dead now?"

Momo gasped. "Cosmo died?!? Oh no! The Great Gana said she would, but he also said that sometimes death just means change! I thought it meant Cosmo and Tails would be in love forever, and it was just the death of her being sad."

Pink Andromeda dragged the Marmolimian girl close to her. "Sad? Why was Cosmo sad? Didn't she have everything she wanted?"

Momo bit her lip, tears rolling down her cheeks. "No! She was sad because her family was all dead. Especially her mom and her big sister. I think she said her name was Galax something."

Pink Andromeda struck Momo, knocking the girl onto the ground. "Don't you _ever _say her name! Do you hear me?!?"

Momo whimpered. She was shaking violently now. "Wh-what name? Cosmo? Please don't hit me again! I don't know what to tell you! I'm not that smart!"

Pink Andromeda turned and walked away. She suspected she'd learned all she was going to from that stupid, stupid girl. No reason to stay unless she wanted to hit her some more. And Andromeda didn't see the point in that. There was too much she needed to think about.

She reached her ship and pressed a button on her belt. The door opened and she entered. Within minutes, she had left planet Marmolim.

"She was sad because her family was dead?" Andromeda said to herself, removing her helmet and dropping it on the floor of the control room. "Why would that make her sad? She betrayed them! Let them die!" She removed one metal gauntlet, then the other, dropping them as she crossed to the hallway.

"And she mentioned Mother by name!" she thought, hopping on one foot to remove a boot. "Why? To brag about what she'd done? Or…or was she feeling sorry for her actions? Did she wish she hadn't done it?" She tried to remove the other boot and fell over backwards.

"Ow! Stupid boot! Why don't you come off right?!?" She started crying. "Somebody come and help me!" A Metarex drone raced over and began removing the rest of her armor.

"It's about time!" she yelled. "Why do I have to do everything myself? A princess shouldn't have to take her own boots off!"

"Sorry, your highness!" the drone said. "There you go! What other orders do you need followed?"

Andromeda gave the drone a push. "Get me a nightgown, stupid!"

"A thousand pardons," the drone said, hurrying to obey.

Andromeda tapped her foot while she waited. Once the drone had put the gown on her, she climbed into bed, and yelled, "Now tuck me in!"

The drone pulled her blanket up to her chin and tucked her in. She lifted her head. "Fluff my pillow!" Andromeda said. After doing so, the drone waited for further orders. "Go pick up my armor and put it away, idiot!" The drone hurried to do so.

"Finally!" she said. "Gotta give them orders like they're all stupid! I hope Daddy and Willow make them smarter soon. It's no fun being a princess when your subjects are all stinky heads!"

Thinking of her father made her feel sad. Sometimes he'd tell he she was doing a good job, but he never said he loved her. Didn't he know how much that hurt her? Didn't he care?

"Mommy would tuck me in," she thought suddenly. "She'd say she loved me! She'd hold me and rock me and play with me. I hate you, Auntie Cosmo! I hate you for what you did to her!"

Andromeda curled up into a ball. "Good night, Daddy," she whispered, rubbing at her eyes. "Good night, Mommy." She placed her thumb in her mouth, and soon fell asleep.

_Mother! There has to be something I can do about her! She thinks Cosmo betrayed us!_

_I'm sorry, Galaxina. I know this disturbs you, but there is nothing either of us can do to change her mind. But perhaps Cosmo will meet her one day and be able to set her straight on what really happened that awful day._

_But she hates Cosmo! She might attack her! Even kill her! Please, let me at least warn Cosmo!_

_I am sorry, Galaxina, but you can't do that. Please don't try. As much as it would break my heart, I would have to stop you._

_It's not fair! She's my baby! And she loves that twisted creature that killed me! I don't know how, but you'll pay for that! Do you hear me, Marcus?!?_

But Red Pine, sitting in his throne, heard nothing but the music he played, and the sound of his own laughter as he watched Black Narcissus' female Metarex dance for him.

****

Tails sweat dropped as Amy and Anita went through his gifts, showing each of them to Cosmo and making embarrassing remarks about them.

"Look!" Amy cried, holding up the scarf he'd gotten. "A yellow scarf for you, to go with his green scarf! Aww! Who would have thought little Tails would turn out to be so romantic?"

"And what's this?" Anita asked, holding up a green t-shirt with a pink heart on it. "Got it kinda big, didn't you?"

Amy giggled. "Well he didn't know what size she wore, did you, lover boy?"

Tails turned away, only to find himself looking right at Cosmo, who was blushing. They quickly turned away from each other.

"Oo, look at this," Amy said, pulling a skateboard with flowers printed on it out of a box. "He's going to teach her how to thrash! Isn't that cute!"

"So cute!" Anita agreed. "And what's this? A swimsuit! Two piece even!"

"Let's see if it fits," Amy giggled, taking the suit and handing it to Cosmo. "Go put it on, Cosmo! Let's see how you look in it!"

Tails sputtered. "Uh…it might be too big! Or too small! I just got it because of the flower patterns!"

"Well, maybe it can be altered if it doesn't fit," Cosmo said, leaving the room. "I'll be right back."

"Come on, you guys," Tails begged the hedgehog girls. "You're killing me here!"

"Isn't he cute?" Amy asked. "Can't get his girl gifts without being all embarrassed!"

"Is that why his face is red?" Anita asked. "I thought it was sunburn."

"But it's the middle of Winter," Amy pointed out. "Must be sunlight reflecting off of snow."

"Yup, snow blindness, for sure," Anita said.

"Stop it!" Tails sobbed, covering his face with his hands. Why were they doing this to him?

"Um…Amy…" Cosmo's voice came from the next room.

"What's the matter, Cosmo?" Amy asked. "Suit too big?"

"Oh, no, no!" Cosmo said quickly. "But…"

"Well, come on!" Amy said. "Let's see how it looks on you!"

Cosmo stepped into the room. Tails' jaw dropped. He really hadn't been paying much attention when he'd gotten that suit. The top was all right, but the bottom half was a little too small for her. She walked nervously towards Tails, not looking at him. Amy grabbed her shoulders and turned her all the way around. It was even smaller in back.

"Why you dog!" Anita said. "Shame, shame, shame!"

"It was an accident!" Tails sputtered, wishing he'd left the suit on the rack.

"I'm surprised he didn't get her lacy undies," Amy said.

"I would never do that!" Tails cried. "Honest, Cosmo! I'm sorry that suit doesn't fit! I shouldn't have gotten any clothes without measuring you!"

"Hear that, Anita?" Amy asked, grinning at the other hedgehog.

"He wants to measure her?" Anita asked, grinning back. She threw her arms out. "Measure me, Tails!"

Tails sputtered. "No! That's not what I meant!"

"Leave them both alone!" Cream cried, suddenly reentering the room. She blinked at the sight of Cosmo's bathing suit, then turned back to the hedgehogs. "Tails is a good boy! If he says it was a mistake, then it was a mistake! Shame on both of you!"

"Come on, Cream," Amy said, placing her hands on her best friend's shoulders. "Calm down. We were just kidding Tails a little. Don't let us bother you, Tails. I'd love it if Sonic brought me nice presents. Even if they didn't quite fit."

"Yeah," Anita agreed. "We're just two bitter old maids, jealous because we're not dating anybody."

"Well, I'm sure I can set you up with somebody nice…" Amy offered.

"No thanks," Anita told her.

"How about you then, Cream?" Amy asked, turning towards the bunny.

Cream sweat dropped. She forced a smile onto her face. "Uh…thank you very much, Amy, but…I don't think my mother would approve." _Please don't approve, Mom!_

Amy pouted. "I'm beginning to think that people don't appreciate my matchmaking abilities!"

"Why, Amy," Anita said, hiding a grin behind her hand, "wherever did you get that idea?!"

****

Colin left Thorndyke Industries and walked through the huge parking area. He sighed as he realized the elevator to the top floor of the parking garage wasn't working again. The world's greatest scientists worked here, yet no one could bother to maintain an elevator on the premises. Since Colin had been caught in traffic that morning, he'd been forced to park on the top floor. With the elevator down, this meant a ten story climb. "Story of my life," he muttered, starting up the first flight of steps.

Colin was not an athletic man. Never had been. Smart? Absolutely. But not smart enough to figure out how to keep the bullies from forcing him to do their homework for them. But Colin had adjusted to the extra work load. Especially in math and science. The teachers had loved him. Especially the lazy ones that saw they could let Colin run the class for them while they pretended to grade his performance. He hadn't cared, since he got extra credit for it. Of course, this meant he skipped a grade. Then another. Already smaller than his fellow students, Colin had suddenly found himself a Lilyputian amongst Brobdingnagians. Mocked by everyone. And girls? They had found him either weird or oddly cute, in the same way that those cats with no hair were considered cute.

Colin sighed as he felt something drip onto his arm at the six floor. Yes, of course, it _would_ rain. Why not? "Sometimes I wonder why I don't just stay in bed," he murmured to himself. "But then who'd pay the rent? Or the cable bill? Or the phone service?"

By the time he reached the top floor, he was soaked. He hurried to his car, and had to dive for cover as a brand new, shining red Jaguar nearly ran him down. "Why don't you watch where you're going, you ignoramus?!?" he demanded, shaking his fist at the departing driver. Ah well, at the rate research was going, it wouldn't be too much longer before he'd be out of this stupid world. And good riddance!

Finally reaching his car, which was a few years old and not in the best condition, Colin fumbled through his pockets for his keys. He pulled out a handful of change and a cell phone that he had bought but never really used, since no one ever called him, and he certainly had no reason to talk to anyone, but the keys proved elusive.

"Oh, come on!" he complained, digging deeper into his pockets. They couldn't have fallen out of his pocket at some point, could they?

Finally he fished them out. He unlocked his door and climbed in. He turned the key in the ignition, and was rewarded by his car making perfectly ghastly sounds as it struggled to start. With the new job, he could afford a new car, especially since he intended to be gone before he had to make any payments. But why bother? Salesmen always saw him coming, and would unload the worst product they had on him. His lawn mower had to be turned over every few feet and cleaned out before he could continue to mow. His television set had too much red in it, and he couldn't seem to figure out the problem. Even his "brand new" computer had proven to already have a virus he had furiously removed himself.

As Colin headed home, he thought about how it would be on this new world. This Mobius. Servants at his beck and call. Dancing girls bringing him fancy drinks. Sure, the girls were all furry animals on that world. It was too bad that…but no, Helen would never look at a man like him. His entire life, he'd never gotten any breaks. Never had any respect.

A car went by, splattering mud on his car. He shook his fist at the other vehicle as it raced towards the yellow light. He grinned when he saw it didn't make it.

"Yes!" he cried. "In your face, you big jerk!" He drove up to the red light and grinned at the other driver, a large, heavy set man that glared at him, then looked away. Colin tossed a small device with a magnet on the bottom. It stuck, unnoticed, to the other car. As the light turned green, the other car took off. Colin stuck his tongue out and said a few choice words about the driver.

Poom! The device he'd planted went off, covering the red car with neon pink paint. The driver stopped his car and got out, cursing. Colin, pretending not to notice, kept going, a smirk on his face.

"That was fun," Colin snorted, as he continued on his way home. "But it's small potatoes compared to what I'd really like to do." He sighed. "But the cops frown on running other people's lives and taking what you want. This world is just too complicated. I'll be glad to leave it behind for greener pastures forever!"

****

"Did you hear, Tails?" Amy asked as Cosmo left the room to change out of her swimsuit. "Cosmo said they used some sort of genetic manipulation on her."

Tails, who had settled down into a blue chair (the others in the living room were bright pink,) jumped up again. "They what?!?"

"Apparently that's how she was able to transform and hold Dark Oak prisoner," Amy said, facing him from her couch. Cream sat on her left. "Maybe that helped Sonic and Shadow bring her back?"

Tails rubbed his forehead. This was not something he had needed to hear. "Well…I guess it sort of makes sense…Dark Oak beat Super Sonic the first time they met. Cosmo's power must have really been something to stop him even for a few minutes. But why didn't she ever mention it before?"

Cosmo, now wearing the nightgown Amy had given her, came back into the room. Tails marveled at how she was beautiful no matter what she wore. She sighed and sat down on the right side of Amy. She shut her eyes. It took her a minute to reply.

"I was told this only after I died," she explained. "I have no idea why I remembered that, but apparently Mother wanted someone that could fight the Metarex on their own terms. Only…"

"Only what, Cosmo?" Tails asked, sitting up and leaning towards her. "You can tell us anything."

"Let me get you a cup of tea," Anita offered, getting up from a bright pink chair. "It might help your nerves." She hurried into Amy's kitchen.

Cosmo sighed. "Mother thought there'd be more time. That we could avoid the Metarex until I was able to grow up and learn how to use my powers properly. Perhaps if I had been Sonic's age, I might have been able to fight them. Instead, all I could do was temporarily immobilize Dark Oak, and lower his gravity field, allowing Sonic and Shadow to destroy him."

Anita returned with a cup of tea and handed it to Cosmo. "Here. Careful, it's hot."

"Thank you," Cosmo said, making no effort to drink it. "Um…what was I saying again?"

"You let Mister Sonic and Mister Shadow destroy Dark Oak," Cream offered.

"Oh yes," Cosmo said, still apparently not noticing she was holding a hot cup of tea. "Apparently, whatever process was used, they were unable to repeat it. I…I was supposed to have…have sisters, but…none of them grew. Mother was too weak to give proper nourishment to her seeds, so she gave all her strength to just one."

"You," Tails said, lightly touching her hair. "And I'm sure glad of that."

Cosmo smiled sadly. "I'm sure if it had been another, perhaps with different colored hair and flowers, she would have done just the same. Perhaps better than I did. Perhaps she wouldn't have whined as I did." She took a sip of tea. It was hotter than she liked it. She would have set it down on the table in front of her, but she decided she needed something to occupy her hands. She was never really sure what to do with them while she was talking.

"You weren't whining!" Tails insisted, taking her left hand in his. "You had every right to be depressed. You're not going to start feeling that way again, are you?"

Cosmo shook her head. "No," she said firmly, taking another sip. "No, that never helps anything. I'm not sure what I want to do next with my life, but wallowing in grief and self-doubt aren't on the list."

"Maybe you should try being more like the person you were on your ship," Cream suggested. "What did you like to do back then?"

Cosmo thought about this. It seemed like such a very long time ago. "Well, I was always very inquisitive. Some people said nosy. I remember once when I was examining a device on the ship. I leaned towards this metallic circular object to get a better look at the machinery that was inside, and suddenly realized I couldn't pull my head out! I never screamed so loud or so long in my life! Not until…" She took another sip and didn't finish her sentence.

"So how did they get you free, Cosmo?" Cream asked.

Cosmo blushed. "They had to take the machine apart," she admitted. "I was so embarrassed. And Galaxina looked at me and shook her head. The next morning she teased me about it."

Amy giggled. "You sound like you were a mischievous little scamp!"

Cosmo waved her free hand in front of her. "No, I wasn't! Not really! Just very curious. And I daydreamed a lot."

"And there was no one close to your own age?" Cream asked. As much as she liked hanging out with Tails and the others, sometimes she wished someone closer to her own age was in the group. She suddenly found herself wondering how old Bokkun would be if he wasn't a robot. But that was silly. Of course he was a robot."

"No," Cosmo admitted, taking another sip. "I believe the closest was about Sonic's age. Some of my people didn't seem to want to talk to me. Perhaps it was because I was so much younger than they were. Or perhaps because they knew I was the very last Seedrian."

"And now there can't be any more," Amy said sadly. "The only male left is a big stupid jerk!"

Cosmo nodded. "That was another thing genetic engineering was supposed to take care of," she said without thinking. "Mother also wanted to be certain we could continue to live on, even though all of the males of our species were gone." She suddenly realized what she was saying and blushed. "Uh…never mind! The rest isn't important!" She took too big a gulp of hot tea and burned her tongue. "Ah! Hot! Hot!"

"Are you okay?" Tails asked, dropping to his knees in front of her.

"Just burned my tongue a little," Cosmo said, unable to meet his eyes.

"How _could_ your people live on without males?" Anita asked. Cosmo winced. Obviously, Sonic's sister was not the sort that would let someone drop a subject that had suddenly become uncomfortable.

"Uh…well," Cosmo said, turning away from Tails. "That's a good question. Um…was it snowing when you came here, Tails?"

Tails blinked. "Huh? You know what the weather was like when I came here, Cosmo," he said.

"Oh," Cosmo said. She took another sip of tea, looking desperately at Amy and Cream to change the subject.

Tails sighed. Cosmo winced. She was hiding something from him again, and he knew it, but this was so embarrassing! How could she tell him, in front of the girls especially, that there was a chance that she could have his child one day? That was something they should discuss in private when they were older. Not here and now.

Cream, the one she had worried about, came to her rescue. "Cosmo needs some shoes and some new clothes," she said.

"Great idea, Cream!" Amy said. "Big shopping trip in the morning!" She looked at Tails and grinned.

"But…but I thought…I thought that I could see Cosmo in the morning!" Tails said, horribly disappointed. Even though Cosmo was back, he was being separated from her more now than he had been when they had been traveling through space.

"So you volunteer to come with us and help carry our packages?" Amy asked, patting Tail's shoulder. "Good boy! Be here bright eyed and bushy tails in the morning!"

"Huh?" Tails said, having no idea what had just happened. Had he volunteered to do something?

"We'll need more help than little Tails though," Amy added. "And Sonic will never agree to a big shopping trip. Maybe we can talk Knuckles into coming."

"No problem," Amy said, getting up. She got her phone, then made a call. "Hello, Knuckles!" she said sweetly. "Guess what? We've decided to honor you with a trip to the mall in the morning!" She held the phone away from her ear. Everyone could hear muffled yelling. "Sure, we'll get you some grapes for helping us out," Amy said. There was some more yelling. "Well, of course if you think you can't handle something like that, guardian of the master emerald." There was silence on the line. Finally, they heard something that none of them could quite make out. "It's settled then! We'll meet you at the mall when it opens at ten! Don't be late or smashie-smashie!" Amy hung up the phone. "He said he'd be delighted."

"You don't really think he'll come, do you?" Tails asked, sweat dropping.

"Sure he will," Amy said. She turned to Cream and Cosmo. "Just appeal to a guy's vanity, and watch how he has to prove himself." She looked at Tails and grinned.

_And then she wonders why Sonic runs from her!_

****

Merlin sighed as he returned to his room. So much for counting on a professional actually acting professionally in this place! The sanitarium was closed for the evening. Nothing to do but try to get some rest and make another attempt to talk his way out in the morning.

As he settled into the hard bed with its scratchy blanket, he thought about the conditions of the place. Had Miles gone through this? Substandard furnishings, substandard doctors, substandard security guard! A patient acting as if she were a nurse until someone caught her at it! He'd have to have a long talk with the king about this place.

Looking out the small window with iron bars outside, he thought again about trying to escape. He could put a guard to sleep, take his key, and unlock the door, but then he'd be a wanted fugitive. The only people he could think of to go to would be Miles, who he feared would not be able to handle the situation, and Sir Charles, Sonic's uncle. He hated to have to ask Chuck for that kind of help. He could just imagine the old hedgehog shaking his head and chuckling.

"Got yourself in trouble again, did you, Merl, ol' girl?"

No, he did _not_ need to go through something like that again! Best to wait until Doctor Gantan returned and arrange an interview with her. Merlin pulled the woolen blanket up over his eyes. Hopefully it would all be over tomorrow, and he and Miles could get down to the serious business of dealing with the Metarex problem. He shut his eyes. Why hadn't he studied communication spells years ago, when he'd had the chance? Too interested in impressive spells back then.

Perhaps a good illusion could help him get out. He just needed to plan it out completely in his mind. Every detail had to be perfect or something might go wrong, and probably at the worst possible time. One spell that might get him out required long observation of a target. That would most likely be that dreadfully rude orderly, and Merlin didn't want to spend that much time around such an unlikable person.

****

"I'll see you in the morning, won't I, Tails?" Cosmo asked.

"Of course you will!" Tails assured her, taking her hand. "And every day from now on. I swear it."

Cosmo sighed. "I suppose tomorrow you should run a scan on-on my brain," she said sadly.

Tails made a face, then forced himself to smile. "I'm sure it's gone," he tried to assure her. "But, yeah, I have to check, Cosmo. I need to be sure."

Cosmo nodded. "As do I," she told him. "I don't want to be always wondering, always worrying. I want this to be over for good. If-if it's still there…what will you do?"

Tails sighed. He wasn't ready to think about that just yet. "Let's worry about that when and if we have to, okay?"

"You're right," Cosmo said, forcing herself to smile back at him. "We're together again, and nothing, not Red Pine, not some stupid thing in my head, nothing will ever separate us again!" She threw her arms around him. "Help me to be strong tomorrow," she whispered.

"You're already strong," Tails assured her, hugging her back. "And whatever happens, we'll face it together. Remember…I love you, Cosmo."

Cosmo kissed him. "I love you too, Tails. I'll be waiting for you."

"I'll see you in the morning," Tails promised. "Good night, Cosmo."

"Good night, Tails," Cosmo said.

She watched him walk away. Once he was out of sight, she gently shut Amy's door, then turned and joined the others.

"It's okay," Amy assured her. "You'll see him tomorrow."

"I know," Cosmo said. She placed a hand on her forehead, but didn't say anything. No need to worry everyone needlessly.

She suddenly realized Amy was talking about something.

"So my Cousin Rob robs from the rich and gives to the poor," Amy finished.

"That doesn't seem right, Amy," Cosmo said, hoping she didn't upset Amy too much for saying that. "Even if you're poor, you shouldn't steal."

"But if someone steals from you," Amy asked, "is it wrong to take it back?"

Cream scratched her head. "Oh, wow, that's a tough one."

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Cosmo said firmly, "but sometimes the answer is more complicated than that, isn't it?" She looked at the wall. "If someone hurts you, do you have the right to hurt them back? Once I learned that I couldn't reason with the Metarex, I stopped trying."

"But it's important to talk problems out," Cream said. "Like…like you and me and Tails, right?"

"I don't want to fight with you, Cream," Cosmo said. "You're my friend, I'd hate to have that damaged because we were both interested in the same boy."

Cream threw her arms around Cosmo. "I'm sorry," she said. "Tails is just so cute! And when he's sad, and he was awfully sad while you were gone, I just wanted to put my arms around him and ask him not to cry. I…I just couldn't help myself."

"I know," Cosmo said, returning the hug. "I hate seeing him unhappy too. Especially when it was because of me that he was sad. He's so kind and sweet and has those big sad blue eyes…"

"I remember the first person I felt really happy around," Cream said dreamily. "You didn't know him, Cosmo. Emerl was so nice, but then he…he lost control, and…and I had to…" She rubbed at her eyes. Amy gave her a tissue. "Thanks," she said. "I guess I could understand how Tails felt, because of what I had to do with Emerl."

"But Emerl was a robot," Amy pointed out. "He was very sweet, and I enjoyed taking care of him like a test run for a child of my own, but…but he was a machine, Cream."

"And I'm a plant," Cosmo pointed out. "You shouldn't dismiss anyone because of what their origins are. My mother and sisters hated violence, but they didn't trust animals, and warned me that they were greedy and cruel, and I shouldn't trust them and run away if I saw any. That's why I was so cold to you and Amy and Tails at first, Cream. When I first realized I cared about Tails, I wondereed if I was doing something foolish and dangerous."

"You didn't trust Tails?" Cream asked. "I could see you being scared of Knuckles or Amy, but Tails…"

"Well, I'd also been warned that males were violent and would trick girls into trusting them," Cosmo said. She sighed. "I'm afraid that everyone grew a bit paranoid on the refugee ship. When I asked what boys were like, I was told they were terrible liars."

"Well, some of them really are like that," Amy said, "but not all guys. Sounds like your friends made some very bad decisions in romance."

"Well, I sure don't know too much about dating," Cream admitted, getting up and crossing Amy's kitchen. "But I do know ice cream always makes _me_ feel better. I think Amy still has some."

"If I don't, it's because a certain little bunny ate it all," Amy kidded.

Cosmo leaned back on the couch. She was starting to feel very tired, but didn't want to be rude and excuse herself to go to bed. "Well, by the end, the only males left were the soldiers. The ones that became the beasts that my mother ordered destroyed."

"Soldiers aren't exactly the best choices for dating," Anita pointed out. "And your dad used that planet egg thingy to make them transform?"

"Well, it was possible for them to transform before that," Cosmo said, rubbing her eyes. "But it was very dangerous until then. Many soldiers died as beasts, and not just in combat. I believe the change placed a strain on their hearts. Some could handle it, some couldn't. The planet egg made the change less damaging to them."

"But they went crazy after that, right?" Amy said. "Your mom's film showed they just wanted to fight each other. Maybe the planet egg effected their minds?" Amy thought about this for a moment. "Hey, since Dark Oak had the most eggs, maybe that's why he was so crazy by the time we saw him?"

Cosmo, about to fall asleep, sat up, stunned. She stared at Amy. "You're right! Maybe-maybe that's why he lost his mind! Maybe I'll be all right if I stay away from planet eggs!"

Amy gave Cosmo a little smack on the forehead. "No more talking about going crazy, or I kick your big green can," she said.

"We have enough ice cream for everybody to have one scoop," Cream said, returning with a tray holding four bowls with spoons.

"Oh, Cream, you didn't need to do this," Cosmo said, rubbing her forehead. If Amy wanted to, she could really hurt somebody.

"Sure I did," Cream said. She leaned over and took a good look the alien girl. "You look really tired, Cosmo. You should go to bed after you finish."

Cosmo yawned. She quickly put her hand over her mouth. "Sorry!" she said. "I've never yawned so rudely before. But you're right, Cream. I didn't do that much today, but I feel like I haven't slept in days."

"Well, you did just come back to life," Amy said, eating her ice cream. "It probably took an awful lot out of you. You really should go to bed pretty soon."

Cosmo covered her mouth in time to stifle her next yawn. "Sorry," she said again. "There was something I wanted to ask you, Amy." She winced as it came back to her. "Oh yes. Tails' parents. They don't want Tails to associate with me, do they?"

Amy looked at Cream and Anita. Anita looked back at Amy. Cream looked at Cheese, who looked at the couch. "Um…Tails' parents are kind of difficult to get along with," Amy said. "It's not just because you're an alien plant, Cosmo. They don't really approve of any of Tails' friends. His mother even picked on Cream once, for…uh…"

"For what, Amy?" Cosmo asked.

"I was looking at swimsuits, and I asked Tails if one looked good, and it was…" Cream stopped.

"It was what?" Cosmo asked.

"It was kind of like the one he got you," Amy said. "Whatever you do, don't let Tails' parents see you wearing that!"

Cosmo blushed. "Really? She was mean to you for that, Cream?" _If they ever learn he gave me something that, they'll be so angry with poor Tails!_

Cream looked down, scraping the bottom of her bowl for the last drop of ice cream. "Well…she wasn't very happy," the bunny admitted. "Not very happy at all!"

Cosmo sighed and sank into the couch. "She got mad at Cream, and everybody likes Cream!" she said sadly. "What chance do I have making friends with her?"

"Don't talk like that, Cosmo," Amy assured her, finishing her own ice cream. "You're nice and polite and helpful. And your mother was somebody really important. That'll make points with her. The Prowers are very concerned about that sort of thing."

"But my father…" Cosmo said. "If his parents ever find out about…" Thinking of the Prowers' reaction to learning her connection to a mass murderer, Cosmo knocked over her ice cream, which she had just been picking at. Cream and Cheese grabbed at it. Cheese ended up in the ice cream.

"Chao? Chao!" Cheese cried. Cream picked him up.

"Poor, Cheese!" Cream said, carrying him into the kitchen. "Let me get that ice cream off of you."

"I'm so sorry, Cream!" Cosmo said. "Please forgive me, Cheese!"

"Chao chao!"

"He says it's okay, but try to be more careful next time," Cream said, the kitchen door sliding open and shut behind her.

Amy picked up Cosmo's ice cream. "Not hungry, are you?" she asked.

"Not really," Cosmo said, rubbing at her eyes again. "Just sleepy."

"Well, I'm sure Cream will enjoy the rest of this if you don't want it," Amy told her.

"I'm sure she will," Cosmo said, yawning again. "Where should I sleep?"

"You can have the couch or use one of my spare futons," Amy offered. "And as far as Tails' parents finding out about Dark Oak…don't say anything about being related to him to anyone! You hear me?!"

"Yes, Amy," Cosmo said, stretching. She leaned back on the couch and shut her eyes. "I just hope they'll learn to like me. I'd feel so bad if they didn't."

"Hey," Amy said, "no more serious talk, okay? I have an outfit I just got that I'm sure will make Sonic's eyes pop out!"

"Why?" Anita asked. "Is it a chili dog costume?"

"Oh, ha ha," Amy said, rubbing a little of Cosmo's ice cream on Anita's nose. "How do you like that?"

"Touche!" Anita said, rubbing the last of her ice cream on Amy's forehead.

"Please!" Cosmo begged, getting between them. "That's what Rouge and that other girl did earlier today that led to that terrible fight!"

"Julie-Su," Amy reminded her. "They're both interested in Knuckles, and he's too stupid to choose one already!"

Cosmo sighed. "Love makes everything so complicated, doesn't it?" She suddenly remembered something she'd heard before. "And Tails' parents don't approve of me. I-I'm going to have to talk to them, beg them to change their minds."

"Tails said they should be back in a few days," Cream said, coming back into the living room with a spotless Cheese. Amy handed her Cosmo's ice cream. "Don't you want the rest?"

Cosmo sank into Amy's couch. "No thank you, Cream," Cosmo said, Great," rolling over on the couch. "They'll be back in a few days? That should give me just enough time to become a nervous wreck before I see them. But somehow…I just don't feel nervous…right…now…"

"Cosmo?" Cream asked, leaning over her friend. "Are you okay?"

"I think she's asleep," Amy said, lowering her voice. She placed a finger to her lips. "Shh. Don't waken her."

"I'll get a pillow and blanket for her," Cream whispered, tiptoeing into Amy's bedroom.

****

As Tails walked home, he looked up at the moon. He wished he could have stayed with Cosmo, or that he could have asked her to stay at his house. But that could lead to more trouble than either of them needed. "Until tomorrow, my princess," he said to himself as he crossed the meadow leading to his house.

Tails had no idea how crazy that next day would turn out to be.

End of the first part.


	9. Chapter 9: Continuing Worries

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Part II

Chapter Nine

"Continuing Worries"

Feb. 7:

Tails awoke slowly, groggily. Why was he so tired? It was difficult to think at first. His teeth were as fuzzy as his mind. Still forgetting to brush them, he guessed. Then it came to him. He had been up well past midnight, celebrating because of…Cosmo! Cosmo had come back!

"Idiot!" he growled at himself, not believing he could have forgotten about her return for even an instant. It was then that a horrible thought forced itself into his mind.

_What if-what if I was just dreaming? What if Cosmo's still…_

He _had_ to find out! He jumped out of bed. As he did, his foot tangled up in his blanket and he fell to the floor.

"Ow! What the heck?"

He got up, shaking the snake-like tendril of the blanket from his ankle. He hurried out of his bedroom and across his living room to the front door. He opened it, and was hit in the face by a cold, moaning wind and flying snowflakes. Snow had apparently been falling all night. He discovered this when he stepped onto his front porch in his bare feet. Ahhh! Cold! Cold! He quickly stepped back inside and pushed the door shut. He'd need to get a coat before going out into _that_. But now that he was fully awake, he knew he hadn't been dreaming last night. Either Cosmo had really come back, or he had completely lost his mind the day before. He picked up the phone to call Amy, then stopped. It was awfully early. If he disturbed the pink hedgehog's "beauty" sleep…well, he'd found out the hard way how she responded to something like that.

As he crossed his living room, he heard a bang, and the wind howled into his house once more. He hurried back to the front door. He hadn't closed it all the way, and the wind had blown it open again. He slammed it shut, making sure it wouldn't fly open a second time. What a cold, clammy, ugly day! He wouldn't go out into it if weren't for Cosmo.

Tails threw on the least embarrassing outfit his mother had gotten him, a red shirt with a little shield of some school he'd never heard of on one side and a pair of navy blue slacks, put on his shoes and gloves, then grabbed his coat and scarf. As he started for the front door again, his stomach let out a growl.

"Quiet, you!" he muttered. He didn't have time to eat now. Didn't want to take the time. If Cosmo had been at Cream's house, Vanilla would have made him breakfast. Amy was somewhat more iffy. Sometimes she daydreamed about Sonic for days and didn't have anything to eat in her house. And she wasn't that good a cook anyway. He threw open the front door and stepped out into the wind and snow. He pulled the door shut, then started to step off his front porch. Crash! The wind blew his door open, causing it to strike the wall inside. "What is this?" he cried, wrestling with the door to get it closed and make certain it stayed that way this time. "Nature's trying to keep me away from Cosmo? Well, it's not going to happen!"

Tails jumped off his porch, spinning his tails in anticipation of flight. Instead, he crashed into the snow, hurting his right knee in the process as it banged into a patch of ice.

"Ow! Hey, what the?" He spun his tails and tried to take off again. He gave a leap, spun around in a complete circle three times, then fell back into the snow.

"What's going on here?" he wondered. He hadn't had trouble flying since he was four! Even his own body was trying to keep him from her! Well, he'd worry about it later. He started running towards Amy's house, ignoring the slight ache in his knee. If he had stayed a few moments longer, he would have heard his phone, which he had forgotten and left on his coffee table, start to ring.

...

"No answer," Rosemary Prower said, hanging up. "You don't suppose something's happened to poor Miles, do you, dear?"

"Don't worry," Amadeus Prower assured his wife. "Miles can take care of himself." The fox made a face. "Although if that Sonic has gotten him into trouble again, he'll regret it!"

"We really should try to find Miles friends closer to his own age," Rosemary said, crossing the motel room they were staying in and starting to pack. "For all we know, that boy might be dragging our son out to a bar or something!"

Amadeus reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a watch. He clicked it open. "The train should be leaving in an hour," he said. "Unless of course that maniac decides to send one of his robots to tear up the tracks again!" It had happened twice in the last year.

"We should have made arrangements for Miles to pick us up," Rosemary said, packing her unmentionables into her suitcase. "He loves flying around in that plane of his so much, I'm sure he'd enjoy showing off for us." She looked over at the special phone he'd given them. Her husband had placed it on a table. She picked it up and placed it in the suitcase. _Can't be forgetting something my little man gave me._

Amadeus clicked his watch shut and returned it to his pocket. The chain was frayed near the pocket, and would need to be repaired soon. "I'm not sure flying around like that is good for a boy his age. When I was his age, I was flying model planes, not the real thing!"

"But it makes him happy," his wife insisted, sitting on her suitcase to get it closed. "The poor dear hasn't had very much to be happy about in his life."

"I know," Amadeus said, starting to pack his own bag. "But that will change as soon as we get back home. I promise you that, dear."

Rosemary sighed. "Yes, but…but what about…"

Her husband crossed the room, put his arms around her. "It's okay. We'll deal with that problem too."

Rosemary shook her head, clenching her fists. "It's not fair!" she sobbed. "This family's gone through so much already, and now…"

"Shhh…" Amadeus said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "We got through Miles' depression, we'll overcome this newest obstacle as well." He bent over and kissed her.

"Remember the train, dear," Rosemary said, pulling away.

"Well, we can always call Miles if we miss it," her husband pointed out as he wrapped his arms around her.

"That's true," she said with a giggle. "Forget I said anything."

...

Amy Rose yawned and stretched as she awoke. She started to daydream about her future life with Sonic, when she suddenly realized she was lying on the floor of her living room in a sleeping bag. Oh, right. Sleepover. She rubbed something out of her eyes and looked around the room. Her eyes fell on green hair and flower buds that she had never expected to see again. Cosmo was still asleep on her couch, her two toed feet sticking out from her blanket. Amy smiled. It was so good to have that little alien nutcase back.

Anita was still asleep in her own bag, but Cream, who had dozed off in Amy's reclining chair, was gone, although, of course, she'd taken the pillow and blanket away. No doubt already returned them to Amy's closet after carefully folding the blanket. Amy sniffed the air. No odor of food, so she probably wasn't in the kitchen. Maybe she was doing some cleaning. The bunny was going to make somebody a great wife someday.

Amy sat up and stared at Cosmo. It was kind of weird, actually, having her back. Amy had mourned her, but had come to accept the fact that she wouldn't see her again. The plant girl hanging around them once more was going to take some getting used to.

Amy laid back down and shut her eyes, intending to start her daydreaming at last. Then she heard soft footsteps creep by her. She opened one eye to see Cream tiptoeing past her sleeping bag.

"Sorry, Amy!" Cream hissed, noticing her friend was awake. "I didn't want to disturb you. I'm going to start making breakfast now."

"That's okay, Cream, I was already awake," Amy said. "Good morning!" _She_ wasn't so quiet. Anita rolled over and sank into her bag, pulling it closed over her head. "Whoops," Amy hissed. She looked over at the plant girl. As near as she could tell, Cosmo hadn't budged.

It was cold in the living room. Amy unzipped her sleeping bag, wrapped it around herself, and walked over to Cosmo. She seemed okay. Probably just still really tired. Amy yawned again as she pulled the blanket down over those weird feet. .

"Don't trip on your sleeping bag," Cream admonished her softly. Amy had done that once, landing on her couch pretty hard and banging her elbow.

"Don't worry, I won't," Amy assured the bunny. She laughed. "You're sure getting bossy!"

Cream flushed. "I am? Sorry about that, Amy. I didn't mean to be, did I, Cheese?"

Cheese nodded, thought about it a moment, then shook his head.

Amy and Cream started to giggle, then quickly covered their mouths. Anita had just rolled over again. Amy would have annoyed the sleepyhead until she got up, but that would have disturbed Cosmo, who still hadn't budged. Maybe she _should_ wake Cosmo, though. Just to be sure the Seedrian was okay. Who knew what the effects of coming back from the dead had had on her body? Or her mind?

Tails had not had a good time running through the snow. He slipped more than a couple of times, once skidding completely around a full three hundred and sixty degrees before falling face first into a pile of snow. He sat up, brushing snow off of his face and whiskers. He didn't know why he suddenly couldn't fly, but he determined to figure it out soon. He couldn't go on like this. He didn't want to injure himself, or embarrass himself in front of Cosmo. The thought of seeing her again urged him to forget his current trouble and keep going.

At last he found himself at the pink hedgehog's home. He leaped over her fence, so eager to be with Cosmo again that he forgot for a moment his earlier problem. He spun his tails to fly onto Amy's porch and suddenly found himself spinning around in circles again.

"Whoawhoawhoa! Hey! What is your problem?" He struggled to pull out of the spin and found himself crashing into a bush. Snow rained down onto him. A large clump went down the back of his neck.

"Ouch! Doggone it! What's going on ? Ahh, that's cold!" He climbed out of the bush, dug the snow out of the back of his shirt, and looked his tails over carefully. Nothing seemed out of order. He reached back and examined his spine. He waved his tails about, front, left side, right side, back, crisscross. They seemed fine. He shook his head, confused and a bit disgusted in himself. Whatever the problem was, it was delaying him from seeing Cosmo. He raced across Amy's yard and up her front steps, sliding a bit. He grabbed the doorknob to regain his balance. He started to ring her doorbell, then remembered she'd said it wasn't working right and he was supposed to come by and fix it. He'd been here yesterday to see Cosmo and hadn't even thought to look at the doorbell. Knowing Amy, she'd expect him to take care of it now that he was here again. More time spent away from Cosmo. He sighed and knocked.

There was no reply. Was it too early for anyone to be up yet? Tails looked at his communicator, which included phone and watch attachments. Or at least, he would have, if he'd thought to bring it. _Definitely becoming absentminded._ He looked up at the sky, hoping to estimate the time by the position of the sun. This would have been a lot easier if the sun had actually been visible. What a lousy beginning for Cosmo's first full day back!

...

Colin sighed as he reached Thorndyke Industries. Same old grind. Who knew when the dimensional portal would be up and running? Since this Master Emerald thingy was destroyed, an entirely new way of crossing over would have to be developed. Sure, they had the ship the younger Thorndyke had come back to Earth in, but it was no longer functioning. Oh, it could travel through space all right, but the special engine Colin's uncle had placed in it seemed to have been shut off. At least, testing proved that part of it simply wasn't working, and couldn't be made to work. Chris hadn't wanted it taken apart for extensive study because he was hoping it would start functioning properly again sooner or later. Yeah, right. Like Uncle Julian would really want a brat he'd gone through so much trouble getting rid of to come back again!

Of course, according to that sissy, Colin's uncle had stated the space/time continuum would shift just as Thorndyke used the machine. Supposedly, Chris had only had three minutes to use it. A likely enough story. It was simply too convenient. Time would run out for the brat to leave Sonic's world just as he was told it was running out? No, more likely, Uncle Julian had wanted to get rid of him. Not that Colin could blame him of course. All the time, that kid was blathering about that blasted blue hedgehog. Sonic, Sonic, Sonic! He had a great girl like Helen, but did he talk about her that way? Nooo!

"Hey, shorty, what's up?" one of the other workers said as Colin clocked in.

"It sure ain't him!" another rejoined. The two of them clinked their coffee mugs together and laughed.

"Sure, go ahead," Colin muttered as he put away his lunch, hoping it wouldn't get partly eaten again. "Laugh it up! A future king can afford to ignore such childish behavior from riff-raff!"

He sat down in a chair and put his head down. It would be so easy to get his revenge on those swine. But security cameras were everywhere. Thorndyke Industries had always had lots of security, and it had been beefed up seven years ago when the aliens had arrived. Colin smirked at the naivety of that boy. Actually thinking he could hide Sonic and his silly friends from the government. He had no doubt GUN had been aware of their presence in the Thorndyke mansion probably by the time Sonic had been fished out of their pool. Chris loved to tell the story of how he'd dived in and saved Sonic. Right. A being of godlike power had to be saved by a snotty nosed whiny punk who liked to cry because his mommy and daddy were too busy to pander to his every need.

Colin thought of his own family, once important and quite well to do. After his cousin's death and his grandfather's subsequent breakdown, his family had suddenly found themselves treated like Doctor Frankenstein after the Monster ran amok through Switzerland. Somehow, it had been leaked to reporters that Gerald was making monsters in that blasted ARK of his. They also found themselves with incredible amounts of bills to pay. It appeared that old Gerald had dipped heavily into the family fortunes to help subsidize a few of his pet projects. As if those extensive government grants hadn't been enough! Colin had never known the old man, who had died years before he'd been born, but he sounded egocentric, overbearing, boorish, and obsessive. Not to mention nuts.

Colin got up and started towards the lab to begin the daily grind. Because of Gerald, he'd discovered his inheritance consisted of less than he made in six months at this place. Just enough to buy a good tv set. And even that had had to be replaced after a few years, leaving Colin with nothing but his grandfather's eclectic collection of books. He'd sell them, but he had had all experienced trouble getting anywhere near what something was worth hocking them. People tended to look at him and think "pigeon." Besides, he sort of liked the idea of having old, rare items in his possession. Sort of like one of those dispossessed nobles that had lost everything except the old family castle.

"Good morning, Colin," Chuck Thorndyke said, nodding to him. The old man was once again going over the blueprints of his grandson's earlier machine. The one that had sent him to Sonic's world but played havoc with his age. Too bad he hadn't stayed twelve. Maybe Colin could have invented something to make Helen walk and she would have been so grateful she'd've given him a chance. But he couldn't compete with an adult Chris. Not even one that carried on incessantly about Technicolor toons!

"Good morning, Professor Thorndyke, sir," Colin said, giving the geezer a phony smile. Clearly senile, but since his son owned the place, the old goat could decide to invent polka-dotted windshields, and he'd be given the funds to do so. This world was so unfair! But then, wasn't that why he was planning to get away from it for good?

"Shall we start work?" Chuck asked, turning back to the blueprints.

"Oh, indeed we shall, sir," Colin said, toadishly. "Indeed we shall."

_Yes, you old fossil! Give me what I need to leave you and your blasted stuck up family and become a god in another world!_

"What was that, Colin?" the old man asked, looking up. Colin sputtered. Had he said that out loud?

"Just thinking how if we could actually manage to travel to other dimensions, sir, we'd be practically like the gods of Mount Olympus!"

Chuck laughed. "Well, I hardly think we'd qualify for godhood by accomplishing that, Colin. But your sense of humor is always good for a laugh."

"Oh, thank you, sir!" Colin said, mentally imagining tossing the geezer down a flight of stairs. Always good for a laugh was he? The daffy old creep would be laughing out of the other side of his face soon enough!

...

Amy had been about to wake Cosmo just to make sure she wasn't sick or dead again or something when she heard a knock on the door. She yawned and walked through the living room. She could let the plant girl sleep a little longer. Maybe Cosmo just needed a few extra zee's to build her strength up. As she passed Anita, however, she gave her a little nudge with her toe. Sonic's sister was as healthy as a horse, just a bit lazy. Her she didn't mind waking up.

"Get lost," Anita said, burrowing deeper into her sleeping bag. "People are trying to sleep here!"

The knock came again. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Amy said, walking up to the door. "Keep your shirt on! Do you have any idea how early it is?" She opened the door to find Tails about to knock on her head. "Ahem!" she said.

Tails pulled his fist back quickly. "S-sorry!" He said. "I need to see Cosmo right away!"

Amy pointed over her shoulder. "She's in her sleeping bag by the coffee table, still asleep."

"She's still asleep?" Tails repeated. "Is she all right? Did something happen after I left her?"

"She fell asleep suddenly while we were talking," Amy said. "Cream's already in the kitchen getting breakfast started. Anita just told me to shut up so she could sleep, but Cosmo hasn't moved. I was just wondering if I should wake her or not." She grinned. "But I'm sure Sleeping Beauty would much rather be awakened by a kiss from her handsome prince!"

Tails blushed. How long was Amy going to kid them about liking each other? Then he started wondering if maybe something really was wrong with Cosmo. He pushed past Amy and hurried towards the sleeping plant girl, stepping around Anita's rolled up form. From the impression on her bag, she looked like she was trying to do a spin-dash in her sleep.

He dropped to his knees beside Cosmo. So beautiful in slumber. Just as Amy had said, she was like a princess in a fairy tale. Well, he naturally wasn't going to try to awaken her with a kiss. That would be embarrassing for both of them. Especially since he could practically feel Amy's eyes burning into his back.

"Cosmo?" he said softly. "Cosmo…you okay there?"

There was no response. He nervously placed his hand in front of her mouth to make sure she was breathing. Whew! That was a relief!

"Cosmo?" he said again, a little louder. "Can you hear me?"

"_I _hear you!" Anita said, suddenly sitting up and hitting Tails with her pillow. "Go away! Don't wake people up in the middle of the night!"

"It's not the middle of the night!" Tails started to argue. "It's past seven!"

"There's a seven in the morning now?" Anita said, digging deeper into her bag. "Great! Go celebrate it with a morning person!"

Tails started to respond when he heard Cosmo say, "Please, whatever you're fighting about, don't."

He turned back to the plant girl. "Cosmo! So you _are_ okay! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Cosmo rubbed her eyes. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" she asked, yawning. She sat up slowly, looking groggy. Her hair was standing straight up.

"Sorry," Tails said, starting to walk away. "I'll let you get some more sleep…"

Cosmo yawned again, louder this time. "No, that's all right," she insisted. "I don't know why I'm so tired." She looked around the room. "I really _am _here, aren't I?

"I'm really glad you are," Tails told her. His heart was hurting, but not in the way it had been all those last months. It was more like at the party, when he'd started to tell her she was beautiful, stopped, and let her think he meant the stars. "Thank you for being here…"

Cosmo smiled. "Thank you for wanting me back." And then suddenly her arms were around him, and he realized his were around her, and before either of them knew it they were kissing again.

Cosmo suddenly pulled away in embarrassment, her face flushing. "Sorry," she said.

"No, please don't be sorry for that," Tails said, suddenly realizing his normally brilliant mind had just gone blank. What should he say next?

Amy saved him the trouble of thinking of something. "Would you two lovebirds like me to leave?"

"Yes, leave," Anita said from her bag. "All of you. Disappear until a decent hour of the day."

Amy pretended to stumble over Anita. The other hedgehog sat up and glared at her. Amy smiled back sweetly. "Whoops! Clumsy me!"

"Oh, is everyone awake now?" Cream asked, coming from the kitchen. "I'm just starting breakfast, so I'm afraid it'll be awhile."

"Good," Anita said, getting up. "I'll go sleep in Amy's room until then." She stormed off. A few seconds later they heard a door slam.

"Don't forget," Amy called cheerily, "big shopping trip today after breakfast! We want Cosmo to look nice for her boyfriend!"

"Please stop that, Amy," Cosmo said. She sighed and looked down at her feet.

"What's the matter, Cosmo?" Tails asked, feeling her forehead. "Aren't you feeling well?"

"Just a little worried," Cosmo said. She bit her lip, then said, "Amy? Cream? Could you put off breakfast and shopping for awhile? There's something I need to do first."

"Wh-what is it?" Tails asked, trying to read her expression. He felt cold inside. What was wrong? What had happened since he'd seen her last night?

Cosmo placed her hand on her forehead over her right eye. "I need to know for sure if that transmitter is still in my brain," she said at last. "Please, Tails. I _have_ to know! Can we go to the Blue Typhoon and find out for certain? Right now?"

Tails nodded. He didn't want to have to do this, but he needed to be positive as well. He held out his hand. She placed her hand in his and looked up at him.

"Whatever we find out," he said softly, "I promise you, it'll be all right."

Cosmo forced herself to smile. "I know," she said. "When you say it, I can believe it."

...

Pink Andromeda woke with a cry of horror. No! Not again! She sobbed as she climbed out of bed. What was wrong with her? She quickly wadded up her blanket and sheets, ripping them from her bed. _Papa will be unhappy with me! I have to stop this! I have to!_

"How did you sleep, Princess?" a drone asked, coming into her bedroom. Its reply was having the sheets and blanket thrown over its head.

"Take these and wash them!" Andromeda demanded. "And then remake my bed and delete the knowledge of doing these things from your memory banks! Do you hear me?"

"Affirmative, Princess," the drone said, leaving the room.

Andromeda sighed as she walked to her bathroom. She suddenly thought of her nightgown. Blast it! She should have told the drone to wash it as well! Why was it so hard for her to remember things? Like her past. She couldn't remember more than a few months back. She knew King Red Pine was her father, knew that her mother was a beautiful teal-haired Seedrian woman named Galaxina who had been killed by her younger sister, Cosmo. But she only knew these things because her father and Willow had told her about them. Why couldn't she remember being younger? What was wrong with her? Her father had told her it didn't matter, while Willow had always grown quiet and quickly distracted her with something. Why was she so easily distracted? Like she couldn't pay attention to any one thing for very long.

She tossed her nightgown onto the floor and turned on the shower. Ow! Hot! Hot! Darn it! Why were even the simplest things so difficult for her? Like she'd never done them before?

"Hey!" she screamed. "Somebody get in here and fix my shower!"

Another drone, or possibly the same one, they all looked alike to her, hurried to her side. "It's too cold!" she complained as the robot turned on the cold water. The drone turned on the hot water. "Now it's too hot! Fix it, stupid!"

"A thousand pardons, Princess!" the drone said, struggling to get the water temperature just right. When it succeeded, Andromeda stepped into the shower.

"Go wash my nightgown!" she ordered. The drone hurried to obey. It was only several minutes later that she realized she'd forgotten something else.

"Argh! Somebody get in here and scrub my back!" What was wrong with her brain today? She smacked her forehead. "Stop being stupid, stupid!"

...

"Okay," Tails said, stepping in front of the control panel. He clenched his fists. "Ready, Cosmo?"

"R-ready, Tails," Cosmo said, taking a deep breath. She watched the scanner move across the ceiling towards her head. She bit her lower lip and shut her eyes. This machine had scared her before when Tails had used it on her. She'd hoped she'd never have to see it again. She prayed this would be the last time.

Tails pushed some buttons, read the figures on a screen, then pushed a few more buttons. The scanner was now moving over Cosmo's head, taking three dimensional images. _Please, please don't let that awful thing still be there! _

Cosmo forced herself to think of something pleasant. The party on the Blue Typhoon. Her and Tails watching the moon rise on planet Marmoline. Her reunion with Tails. But in the back of her mind, she kept hearing, "Well done, my white seed!" Kept seeing the look on Tails' face when he told her he didn't think he could do anything about the device. Heard Dark Oak whispering inside of her head. If that awful device was still there, if Red Pine could use it to spy on Tails and the others the way Dark Oak had, then she'd have to be sure she was no where near any of her friends when they discussed anything important. She wouldn't try to run. Not this time. She'd learned better. Tails would go after her, and Red Pine might attack and hurt him while he was following her. She wouldn't, couldn't, allow that to happen!

Tails waited for his machine to complete its analysis. The waiting. That was the hardest part. Always had been. For him, at any rate. It seemed like most of his life had been either waiting for something, or hurrying to catch up. Waiting for Sonic and the older Freedom Fighters to come back from their missions in the old days before Princess Sally would let him join them. Waiting for Sonic to show up whenever he would pull one of his disappearing acts. Waiting for word on what had happened to his parents. Waiting for his brother to come back and see him again. And, of course, waiting for a tiny seed to grow into the girl he loved more than life itself. Well, he'd waited nine months to get her back. He could wait a couple of hours to make sure she was okay, and, if not, decide what to do about it.

Surgery was _not_ an option. Never had been. He wasn't qualified to do it. Actually, Eggman was probably the only one that could perform something so sensitive, and there was no way he was letting that monster get his hands on her! He'd seen enough anime on Earth to know what a mad scientist could do if he had a chance to experiment on a helpless victim. Robotization, taking the device out but leaving something less noticeable in her head for his own use later…Tails cringed as his imagination started to go wild on him. He shook those thoughts away. Not as long as he was alive! He looked up as his machine made a whirring sound, telling him it was making final analysis. He hurried to see what it would say, feeling something akin to an icy cold hand clutching his heart as he did.

He heard a soft whimper from the next room. He spoke into a loud speaker. "It's okay, Cosmo. Calm down. I'm starting to get results back. Please, just give me a few more minutes."

Cosmo didn't reply. He hoped she was okay. She'd pretended to be calm, but he knew she had to be as scared as he was, maybe more so. He pressed a few switches, and went to ultimate magnification. If there was still a signal emanating from her brain, he'd see it in a minute.

Tails wiped at his forehead. Perspiration had just gotten into his eyes. He needed them clear to check the results. _Please! Please don't let me find anything! _

_..._

The old hedgehog leaned against a tree and looked at Merlin. "Well, Merl ol' girl, how are tricks?" he asked in that way he had that always made Merlin feel like a child instead of a scholar and wizard.

"I don't have time for this now, Chuck," Merlin said, turning away from him. "And stop calling me that. We're not kids anymore. We're old men."

"We're as old as we feel," Chuck said, offering him a chili dog. "And right now, I'd say you're quite a bit older than I am."

"Enough with your chili dogs!" Merlin said, waving his hand to dismiss his old friend. "I didn't ask for your help, and I don't need it!"

Chuck shrugged and ate the chili dog himself. "Okay, little buddy. Your loss. Oh, by the way, Merlin?"

Merlin sighed. "Yes, Chuck? What is it?"

"Time to wake up."

Merlin opened his eyes. Where was he? This wasn't his room. Blast it! Still in Happy Acres! And…someone was in his room!

He started to leap to his feet, then realized the figure in the corner was small and had an unusual but by now very recognizable silhouette.

"How long have you been standing there, staring at me?" he demanded.

Heather shrugged. "Beats me," she said, holding all four wrists under her nose. "No watch. Time doesn't have much meaning here, you know."

Merlin rubbed his wrinkled forehead in annoyance. "Okay, next question," he said, "_why_ are you standing there, staring at me?"

Heather shrugged again. "Just bored, I guess. Can you do some magic tricks?"

Merlin glared at her. "I'm not a stage magician performing tricks for your amusement!"

"Can you teach me how to do magic?" she asked, her voice suddenly serious.

Merlin cocked his head to one side. "Are you joshing me?"

Heather gave him an odd look. "Am I what?"

Merlin sighed as he got out of the uncomfortable bed. "Never mind," he said. He was surprised to feel hands on his arms. "What are you doing?" he demanded, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Just helping you up, Grandpa," the hedgehog said. She looked at her hands and dropped them to her sides. "You're disgusted that something like me just touched you, aren't you?"

"Are you serious? Why would I find you disgusting?" Merlin asked, starting to make the bed. But he realized he was now alone. He shook his head. "What a strange girl. Can't understand her one bit." Hopefully he'd be out of this place very soon now. When was that Dr. Gantan supposed to come in? Not until that evening, if his memory served him correctly. He tucked in the edges of the blanket then sat down to consider his next move.

...

Tails watched the digital image of Cosmo's head. Watched that spot just over her right eye. Where the signals had come from before. Watched. And watched. And watched…

Nothing. No signal. He checked the other side of her brain. He had to be certain. Cosmo would continue to worry if he couldn't tell her with one hundred percent certainly that her scans were all clear. He turned on the microphone again. "Just a few more minutes, Cosmo. Please. I'll be back there in just a little bit."

There was no response. Tails hoped she was all right. He squinted, rubbed at his eyes, then squinted again. He didn't want to find anything, but he had to make every effort to locate the slightest signal. But his equipment was picking up nothing but normal brain activity. Actually, it was picking up…

Cosmo must not have been as worried as he'd thought. She'd fallen asleep on the table. Or maybe there really was something wrong with her! He decided to check her other vital statistics. He'd been so concerned about her brain, he hadn't looked at anything else. As he looked over her blood pressure and other vitals, his relief turned to concern. Good grief! No wonder she'd dozed off! Her system was run down. She was close to being dehydrated, malnourished, and exhausted. Well, of course! A long, lingering illness would have serious effects on someone's body. What Cosmo had gone through, actually being dead and then coming back to life, had placed a huge strain on her. Poor thing. She must have followed him here on sheer will power. Had she felt sick on the way but not said anything, afraid of worrying him? Forget Amy's shopping trip! Cosmo was going right back to bed as soon as she left here.

Tails made a final check. Still no signal. Whatever device Dark Oak had placed in her brain, it was gone now. Tails began shutting off his equipment. Once everything was shut down, he crossed the control room and opened the door to the examination room. He walked over to Cosmo, reached out to gently nudge her awake, then stopped. She looked so peaceful like this. He brushed her hair out of her eyes, then gently lifted her in his arms. He carried her to the door leading to the corridor and pushed the button causing it to slide open with his tail. He carried Cosmo down the hall and stopped in front of her room. He froze here.

Tails hadn't been in this room since he'd realized he could barely detect Cosmo's scent in there any more. He couldn't take her in there. It would be covered with dust. _Should have left her in sickbay. Just thought it would be nice to have her back in her old room. _He remembered the times during their war in space he'd seen his friends in sickbay. It was a disturbing mental picture, which was why he hadn't wanted to leave her there. Made it seem like there was something seriously wrong with her. But the sickbay really would be the best place for her. If her condition got worse, he could give her oxygen or a stimulant or whatever she needed.

Tails was taking her back to sickbay when Amy entered the hallway. Her eyebrows nearly met in the middle of her forehead, and her eyes made him think of laser beams shooting out of them. _Oh please, not another one of your tantrums, Amy! Not now!_

"What the heck is taking so long?" the pink hedgehog demanded. "We've been waiting almost two hours! And…what's wrong with Cosmo?"  
"Please lower your voice," Tails begged, opening the door to the sickbay and taking Cosmo inside. Blast it! The beds were covered with dust. He walked over to the closest. "Amy, could you please take the sheet off this bed so that I can lay Cosmo down here?"

Amy whipped the sheet off, sending dust flying about them. "Whoops," she said, backing away and covering her mouth and nose with her free hand. "My bad."

Tails quickly spun around so that the dust would hit him from behind rather than shower over Cosmo. "Come on, Amy! Cosmo needs rest and you're trying to give her asthma or something!"

"That could happen to anybody," Amy said. She tried to look around Tails as Cosmo. "What happened?" She demanded. "Cosmo was fine when we came here!"

Tails looked over his shoulder, watching the dust particles float to the floor. Once the air was reasonably clear he laid Cosmo gently down upon the bed. He motioned for Amy to step outside of the room. He pressed a button, turning on the air purifier. Cosmo couldn't go breathing the stuffy air in this room. He'd take her to his house and set her down in his bed as soon as he finished talking to Amy.

Amy followed Tails outside, looking back at the sleeping plant girl. "What's wrong with her?" she asked softly. "Did you keep her waiting so long she got all shook up and fainted? Did she get dizzy and collapse on the floor? Did she say anything? Is she going to be okay?"

Tails held his hand up, hoping he didn't get it smashed with a well aimed hammer. "She fell asleep waiting for the scanner to finish examining her," he explained in a quiet voice. "Please, Amy, Cosmo needs rest and quiet. She's not well!"

"She's sick?" Amy demanded, looking back towards Cosmo through the specially treated glass walls. They were bulletproof and laser resistant, although automatic fire or a powerful enough energy burst would shatter them. "She seemed okay to me. Tired, sure, but that's to be expected, right? I mean, it is kind of like she just woke up from a coma or came out of a body cast or something, isn't it?"

Tails winced at the mental images Amy's comments brought up. "She's exhausted, malnourished, and dehydrated," Tails explained. "She needs intensive care and…"

"Wait a minute," Amy interrupted. Tails started to protest, but she placed her hand over his mouth. He backed away, coughing. "Sorry," she said, looking for something she could use to get the dust off of her hands.

Tails rubbed his mouth off on his sleeve. It was a bad habit, and he ordinarily wouldn't do it, but he was worried about Cosmo and annoyed with Amy Rose, and didn't really care about manners at the moment.

"What is your problem, Amy?" he demanded, coughing again.

"Is Cosmo seriously exhausted," Amy asked. "Or seriously malnourished? Or seriously dehydrated? Or just kind of run down like people get who haven't had enough sleep and _haven't had any breakfast this morning?"_

Tails opened his mouth to give her a retort. To tell her that Cosmo needed immediate care. But actually, the readings hadn't been too serious. Had he overreacted? No. No, he just wanted to be sure Cosmo was all right, that was all.

"She's very fragile right now," he argued. "She needs rest and intensive care and…"

"She needs her boyfriend to stop making mountains out of molehills," Amy told him, reaching her hand out again. Tails backed away. Amy stepped forward. "Tails," she said angrily. Then her face softened. "Tails," she said again, quieter. "Cosmo isn't made of glass. What happened to her was horrible, but she's back now. She's alive. Remember that."

Tails suddenly felt weak. He leaned against the wall to hold himself up. "I know that," he said. "But…"

"Ep ep ep ep ep," Amy muttered, dismissing his words with a wave of her still dusty hand. "Cosmo's tired, so we can delay the shopping trip for awhile. She's hungry and thirsty, so we'll just have Cream run home and bring her something. Something filling and nutritious. Maybe a bowl of vegetable soup or something. But if you keep treating her like that, never letting her do anything for herself, worrying every time she gets a little tired or unhappy, you're going to make an invalid out of her. Not only that, but if you start telling her she needs rest and can't do anything strenuous, you're going to have her worrying that there's something seriously wrong with her. Keep telling her she's sick, and she'll start feeling sick. You don't want to do that to her, do you?"

Tails opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again.

"N-no," he finally admitted. He placed his hand over his eyes. Was she right? Was he starting to act irrational again? Like he had last year? _No! No, Cosmo's alive. Cosmo's here with me. There's no reason for me to lose it again like before._

Tails hung his head. "I…I just want her to be okay…" he said softly. "I want…I want to know I'm taking good care of her. I _need_ to know that…"

Amy patted him on the back. "Of course you do," she said. She ruffled his hair. "You're a great boyfriend, Miles Prower. Wish your best friend was as attentive. But not as attentive as you're trying to be here. Just treat Cosmo like you did before…before what happened. If she suddenly says she's not feeling well, or wants to rest more often than normal, that's different. But Cosmo needs to be reassured that she's okay, not made to worry about herself."

Tails face palmed. "You're right, Amy," he said. "I just…I just couldn't take it if something happened to her again…"

"You have to stop thinking like that," Amy pointed out, placing her hands behind the back of her head. "I know it's difficult. Every time Sonic gets hurt, I hover around him like a mother hen, worried he's going to fall down or injure himself worse if he tries going back into battle." She took a deep breath and let it out noisily. "That's one of the things that annoys him, you know."

Tails nodded, hoping Amy wouldn't take his agreement that she sometimes annoyed Sonic as an insult. Amy had had anger problems as long as he knew her, but it seemed like they were gradually getting worse. But she and Sonic seemed closer than ever before. Maybe Sonic could help her deal with it. He knew he sure didn't want to. He had his own concerns. His own worries.

And all of them revolved around the figure sleeping in the next room.

...

Red Pine glared at his secretary. "Does Andromeda suspect anything or not?" he demanded.

"At this time, she is highly confused, my king," Willow said. "Perhaps we might suggest that she suffered a head trauma that affected her memory…"

Red Pine swiveled his chair, dismissing her. "Yes, that should work," he said, nodding. "Very well then. See to it."

Willow decided to make an attempt to appeal to him. "Sir?" she said cautiously. "Perhaps young Andromeda would believe it more easily coming from her father? She loves you so, and she sees so little of you…"

"See to it!" Red Pine repeated, his tone making it clear the conversation was over and any attempt to open it up again would be punished.

Willow sighed and walked away. It was hopeless. Well, nothing to do then but for her to do her best to raise the poor thing, even if Andromeda didn't respect her. She would begin as soon as the child returned from her voyage into space. Such a big, important assignment the master had given such a tiny, innocent little girl. Well, there was nothing she could do except be supportive of her young charge. And if the master's plan worked, then…well, that would be a problem, wouldn't it? Because the master didn't seem to realize the hardship he would be opening up for himself if he actually accomplished his seemingly impossible dream.

...

Tails was just about to go back to check on Cosmo when the door suddenly opened and Cosmo, looking frightened, came through. Tails hurried to her.

"What's the matter?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Something wrong?"

Cosmo stared into his eyes. "_Is_ there something wrong?" she asked, sounding worried. "You look so worried, Tails! Is it…it's still there?" She placed her hand on her forehead.

Tails cursed himself mentally for upsetting her like that. "No! No, it's gone!" he assured her.

"It is?" Cosmo asked. She let out a huge sigh. "That's a relief!"

"Why did you look worried just now?" he asked her.

"Because _you_ looked worried just now," she explained, absent-mindedly rubbing the first toe of her right foot against her left instep. "I thought you'd found that awful device was still inside of my brain, and you were trying to decide how to break the bad news to me."

Amy Rose looked away, but not until Tails noticed the satisfied look on her face. It practically screamed, "Told you so!" He decided to ignore her. But ignore Amy Rose was never easy.

"So how are you feeling, Cosmo?" the pink hedgehog asked.

"Well, the floor's very cold," Cosmo said. "I think I really do need some shoes."

"Tired?" Amy asked, leaning forward and staring at the plant girl.

"A little, I guess," Cosmo said, pulling her head back uncomfortably. "Uh…may I help you, Amy?"

"Aren't you guys finished yet?" Anita called, stepping into the room. "Cream agreed to keep your breakfast warm for you guys, but it's been a couple of hours now, and she's driving me nuts talking about flowers and chao!" She looked around. "Whoa! Mad scientist laboratory!"

Tails colored. "It is not!" he said, clenching his fists. "It's a hospital."

"Oh?" Anita said, grinning evilly. "So you and Cosmo have been playing doctor?"

"Huh? Sh-shut up!" Tails said, his face turning a deeper shade of red.

"I don't know anything about being a doctor," Cosmo said, missing Anita's joke. "I mean, I've applied a few bandages to people now and then, and taken their temperature for Tails when he was busy with other things, but that hardly qualifies me as a nurse, let alone a doctor."

Amy giggled. "It's really great to hear you try to explain simple things in great detail again, Cosmo," she said.

Cosmo nodded. "Thank you, Amy. I do my best."

Amy shook her head. "You're welcome…I guess," she said. "Now let's get out of this museum and eat breakfast!"

"Museum?" Tails said, looking around.

"Feels like a museum," Anita said. "You just need to hang some pictures on the walls. Put up a few statues…"

"That reminds me," Amy said, turning back to Tails. "You told Cosmo about her statue yet?"

Cosmo blinked. "A statue? For me?"

"A statue _of _you," Amy corrected. "With a big plaque talking about the hero that saved the entire galaxy. Hey, we'll have to show it to you!" She turned to Tails. "You seriously didn't mention it to her?"

Tails colored. "I've had other things on my mind, Amy!" he pointed out.

Cosmo blushed. "A statue of me?" she said. "Calling me a hero?" She shook her head. "You really shouldn't have done that, Tails. I wasn't trying to be heroic. I just…"

"You just were," Amy finished for her, grabbing the plant girl's hand. "Now let's eat breakfast and get to the mall! We have a lot of shopping to do today! I'll call Knuckles and tell him to be sure to get over to the mall while we're eating."

"But, Amy!" Tails started. "Cosmo…"

"Needs some new clothes, unless you want her to keep walking around barefoot in hand-me-downs!" Amy said, giving him a look that said not another word. Tails sighed. What was the use? Arguing with Amy Rose was a waste of time and effort. As the pink hedgehog dragged the somewhat confused looking Seedrian away, Tails sighed and followed. Whistling, Anita brought up the rear.

...

Bokkun woke with a cry. He'd been dreaming that someone was yelling at him. Not Eggman, this person was tall and thin. Decoe? Didn't seem like him. Bokkun got out of bed, actually a box placed under the stairs to Eggman's laboratory, and went to get breakfast. He heard a buzzing sound. The doctor's electric razor. Funny how he'd shave his face every day, but use all kinds of tonics to make that crazy mustache of his grow bigger and bushier. Oh well, maybe in a past life he was a walrus or something. Hahahahaha!

"Ow! Blast it!" he heard the fat man yell. "Feels like this worthless razor is trying to rip my face off!"

Well, that would probably be an improvement. Best not to tell him that, of course. Bokkun flew up to the cabinets over the refrigerator and got out a box of cereal. As he was pouring it into a bowl, Eggman came in, two bandages on his chin. Bokkun hid behind the cereal box so the doctor wouldn't see his grin.

"You look terrible, Doctor!" Decoe said, pulling out a chair for Eggman. Unfortunately, it was the chair Bokkun was just sitting down on. The messenger robot ended up on the floor.

"Hey, watch it!" Bokkun yelled.

"Why are you always underfoot, Bokkun?" Decoe demanded as Bocoe shooed Bokkun out of the way. The doctor sat down in the chair, which sagged under his massive girth, and glared at the bowl of cereal.

"What's this?" he demanded. "Cereal? You nitwits make me a decent breakfast! Ham and sausage and bacon and pancakes!"

Bocoe and Decoe attempted to give the doctor looks of concern. Since they were robots this was not easy to do.

"But Doctor Eggman," Decoe said, "you've been putting on weight again!"

"Yes, your bathroom scale made a most unpleasant sound the last time you stepped on it," Bocoe agreed.

"Stifle it!" Eggman yelled, pounding the table. The bottle of mustard fell over and the salt and pepper shakers shook violently. "Make me my breakfast NOW!"

"Right away, Sir!" Decoe said, turning on the stove. "Bocoe! Get the eggs! And be careful not to break any this time!"

"That wasn't me," Bocoe insisted, getting the eggs from the fridge. "That was Bokkun."

"Hey, that could happen to anybody!" Bokkun said defensively. "I…"

"Shut up, all of you!" Eggman said, scratching his chin. "That razor I got myself for my birthday is no good! I need a new one!" He twirled his mustache a little.

"Well, the animals did rebuild that shopping mall we trashed last year," Bokkun said, sneaking away with his cereal. "Maybe they sell razors there."

Eggman considered this. A grin broke out across his face. It was not a pleasant one. "Good idea," he said. "I'll kill two birds with one stone."

"We're going to kill birds?" Decoe asked.

"What have birds ever done to you?" Bocoe asked.

Eggman spun around and glared at them. "You morons! I mean, we're going to pick up some presents for ourselves today at that mall right after breakfast!"

"Oh, goody," Bocoe said. "I like presents."

"What sort of presents are we going to get, Doctor?" Decoe added.

"Why, anything we want, of course!" Eggman said. "Maybe some ski equipment, and a boat for the summer, and scuba gear, and a new couch and love seat and coffee table…"

"All that's gonna be really expensive," Bokkun said, eating his cereal from his home under the stairs.

"I don't recall saying anything about _buying _any of that stuff," Eggman pointed out. "We'll steal them, then destroy the mall. Ho ho ho!" He glared at Bocoe and Decoe. "After breakfast, that is! What's taking so long! I'm hungry!"

"Yes, Sir!" Decoe and Bocoe both cried, saluting. They hurried to get the doctor's breakfast ready.

...

I'd like to apologize to everyone that's been waiting for this story to be updated since March. I'll do my very best to update in the future far more often. Thank you so much for your patience.


	10. Chapter 10: The Shopping Trip

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter 10

"The Shopping Trip"

"Aw come on!" Knuckles yelled as the girls came out of yet another clothing store carrying packages. Amy and Anita dumped theirs on Knuckles without even seeming to notice the echidna. Cream and Cosmo were apologetic about it, but not for long. Amy tended to become obsessive in whatever she did, whether it was chasing Sonic or a bargain. She grabbed the two younger girls by the hand and dragged them behind her towards yet another store.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"I don't remember signing up to be a pack mule!" Knuckles complained to Tails, who was carrying several packages himself.

"Maybe Amy will get tired of this soon?" Tails suggested hopefully, knowing the unlikelihood of that happening. Amy didn't stop shopping once she started for at least three or four hours unless Eggman attacked or Sonic ran by and distracted her. Knowing she was on the loose, Sonic was probably hiding, and Tails seriously hoped the doctor didn't show up so soon after Cosmo's return.

"And maybe I'll flap my arms and fly to the moon!" Knuckles snorted, as he drudged along behind the girls. "How did I let myself get talked into this?"

Tails shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "Amy has a way of persuading people to do what she wants. I just hope it's not too much for Cosmo, getting dragged around like that. Amy can be pretty exhausting to hang out with."

"You think?" Knuckles cried.

"Knuckles, please," Tails said, "you know how arguing upsets Cosmo."

"Yeah? Well being turned into a beast of burden upsets me!" the echidna yelled, causing them to get stared at by the crowd of Mobians in the shopping center. Life on Mobius gave one an unusual mind set. Enjoy yourself while you can, get what you want and can when it's available, and hide or bury it while you have the chance, because you never knew when some metal hulk might come crashing into the store you were shopping in, not to mention your house, and smash everything in sight. Yet, thanks to the efforts of Sonic and his friends, as well as those that came in afterwards to perform damage control on the homes and other buildings, people were hopeful the good times would outweigh the bad, which they normally did, and eventually permanent peace would come.

"Let's see what we can find for those freaky feet of yours!" Amy said, dragging Cosmo into a shoe store. The constant slapping of her flip-flops was starting to annoy the pink hedgehog. Getting the plant girl some shoes that didn't try to drown her out would be a relief.

"Are my feet really that 'freaky?'" Cosmo asked, wriggling her toes.

"You look like an advertisement for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" Amy said, looking through the shoes on display.

Cosmo turned to Cream. "Uh…turtles?"

"Michaelangelo was funny but Raphael was scary," Cream said, nodding. Cosmo turned to Anita, who just shrugged.

_After all this time, I still don't understand them! Will I ever?_

Fortunately, while the same shoes that fit Amy or Anita or Cream wouldn't fit Cosmo's feet, different species on the planet had different sized and shaped feet, so it wasn't too difficult to find something Cosmo could wear.

"How's this, Amy?" Cosmo asked, trying on a pair of blue and white running shoes. Green shoes seemed to be unpopular, the few they saw unusable by the Seedrian.

"Try walking around in them a bit, Cosmo," Amy said, looking them over. "You'll probably be doing a lot of walking in them." She grinned. "Especially with Tails."

Cosmo blushed and looked away. As luck would have it, her eye caught sight of Tails and Knuckles, who were slowly making their way through the shoe store towards them. She turned away shyly for a moment, then decided to try the shoes out by walking over to him. They felt very different from her slippers, and certainly sounded different. Not bad or annoying, just not what she was used to. Kind of springy in the heels. She gave an experimental leap, lifting herself a couple of feet off the ground. Amy's skirt billowed around her as she came down. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed like her landing wasn't as slow or as soft as it had been before. She really needed a skirt more like the ones she had worn all her life. Wait. Hadn't she had a spare petal skirt? What had happened to it? It should still be on the Blue Typhoon, unless Tails or Cream or Amy removed it. Well, she could ask Tails in a second.

Unfortunately, since Cosmo was lost in thought, and Tails could barely see over the boxes of clothing he was carrying, neither noticed just how close the other was becoming until Cosmo walked into him. The boxes began to slip. For a few seconds, the two of them attempted a comical looking juggling act. Then the boxes fell, and the two of them went down with them.

"Oof!" Cosmo said as she fell on Tails. "S-sorry…"

"You two going to keep doing that?" Knuckles said. "Honestly, get a room!"

Tails felt his face grow warm as he helped Cosmo up. Leave it to Knuckles to make a bad situation worse. Then Amy, hurrying over, decided to get in on the act.

"Wow, Cosmo!" the pink hedgehog said, grinning. "Running and jumping on Tails when you see him? Been hanging out with me too long!"

Cosmo covered her face with her hands. "Oh, please, stop it, Amy!" she begged.

"Yeah, leave her alone," Tails said. "It was an accident!"

"Hmm…" Amy said, rubbing her chin with her index finger. "What do you think, Knuckles?"

"I think I want to go home now!" the echidna said. "Will you take your stupid boxes already?"

But Amy wasn't paying attention. As usual. "We should plan a big skiing trip! Everybody get some skiing outfits! Cosmo! You'll need skis!"

Cosmo blinked. "What?" she asked. Amy's sudden changes of thought moved too quickly for her to keep up with.

"Skis?" Knuckles cried. "Hey, I didn't agree to no…"

"Sir," a female bear said, walking up to them, "if you can't be quiet, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Yeah, Knucklehead," Amy said, "what are you trying to do, cause trouble on Cosmo's first full day back?"

"What?" Knuckles said, pointing at Amy, then the employee, then back at Amy again. "But I didn't…but she's the one…but I…"

"He's a little high strung," Amy said to the woman. "I'm sure you know guys like that…"

"Says the woman who carries around sledgehammers!" Knuckles retorted.

Amy smiled innocently. "Sledgehammer? Little ol' me? Why, Knuckles, how you talk."

"But Amy, you do have your pikopiko hammers…" Cream pointed out. Amy quickly placed her index finger on the rabbit's mouth.

"Isn't she just the cutest thing?" the pink hedgehog asked, giggling. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'll make sure my friends all behave themselves here."

The woman walked away, looking unconvinced. Knuckles had grabbed a dreadlock in either hand and was yanking on them like he was just about to come unglued. Tails made a face. This was not going to go well.

"I still don't understand," Cosmo said, looking around. "You invited Tails and Knuckles, but they're not buying anything for themselves, Amy. They're only carrying what we get. That's not fair."

"I've been wondering when you'd get up the nerve to mention that, Cosmo," Anita said, leaning on a display of cargo pants. "What a performance, Amy! You almost had me fooled!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Amy said, ignoring the group now to look at the pants. "We should get some of these for adventure trips. How would I look, exploring secret caves with my Sonikku?"

Knuckles muttered something that sounded like, "Like a freak of nature." Luckily Amy didn't hear.

…

The opossum walked through the snow, hat pushed down over his eyes and collar turned up almost to his nose. He hated the cold weather. Ever since the human had destroyed his home, forcing him to flee into the wilderness, he had lived like his ancestors, foraging for food in the forest. The nuts and berries he found weren't that great, but they kept him from starving. It had never occurred to him to try to return to civilization. As far as he knew, those robots were still out there, ready to grab any stray Mobian that got too close.

He heard sounds of an engine and hid behind a snow bank. He watched as a truck stopped nearby and released its contents unto the snow covered ground. It drove away. The opossum stayed in hiding until it was out of sight. It had been driven by a Mobian, a hamster or guinea pig, he was fairly sure, but he took no chances. They were probably servants of that monster. Well, might as well see what he could scavenge from the new leavings. He's once found a blanket that was warm and not too dirty.

He began to pick through the junk. Much of it he didn't have any use for. Some unsold books. He had never been much of a reader. An electric razor. He allowed his fur to grow wild. It helped keep him warm. A deck of playing cards. After looking through it, he noted the fifth of spades was missing, but there was a joker. He could use that as a substitute. He had gotten pretty good at solitaire.

What was that? An old tree branch? No. A cane. Looked pretty fancy, too. Some old fellow had passed away, probably, and they'd thrown out his stuff. Well, the opossum could use it. He picked it up, noticing that it somehow felt kind of warm. Maybe it had been too close to the engine or something.

"Well, Eddie," he muttered as he continued to search the junk, "you've at least found yourself a nice little walking stick.

…

"So you're having trouble flying today?" Knuckles asked. "Sounds weird. You have that kind of problem often?" They were sitting on a bench outside of a large department store. Cosmo's protest that she had enough clothes for quite awhile had fallen on deaf ears.

Tails shook his head. "No, never," he said. "I just can't understand it."

"Maybe you broke something when you kept falling down during the party," the echidna suggested. He looked away to hide the grin that suddenly broke out on his face. "So are you going to fall on Cosmo next or is she going to fall on you?"

Tails held up the boxes he'd been carrying to cover his own face. "Cut it out, will you?" he said. "It's not funny! Cosmo must be awfully embarrassed. I know I am!"

"You've been a basket case all the time she was gone," Knuckles pointed out. Tails colored. He didn't like having that pointed out to him. He'd been trying to forget he'd ever been that way. He certainly didn't want Cosmo to know how bad he had been!

"What are you implying?" Tails demanded.

Knuckles leaned back on the mall bench they were sitting on. "She came back," he pointed out. "She's alive and well, and yet you're still complaining. You should be too happy just to have her back with you again to be whining about a couple of silly accidents."

Tails made a face. He was right. He'd prayed for months, promising that he'd never ask for anything again in his life if he could have Cosmo with him once more. He thought about all of the people that lost loved ones and never got a second chance. He chewed on his lower lip.

"You're right," he admitted at last. "You're absolutely right, Knuckles. I should stop letting things upset me and make sure Cosmo is happy." He looked over at the store. "Which probably would mean getting her away from Amy."

"Good luck doing that," Knuckles said. "Kid, we're stuck here all day. Get used to it."

Tails sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Still, there was the fact that Cosmo was just outside of his sight. Alive and well and probably wondering what he was doing and how she could get away from Amy. That girl was going to drive them all up the wall one of these days! But as long as he knew Cosmo was safe with her, since few would dare to cross that pink hedghog, he could put up with a few petty annoyances.

He leaned back and shut his eyes. He could see the two of them going on a sleigh ride together. Teaching her how to ski at that party Amy was probably already mentally planning out in more detail than anyone would want to hear. Picking flowers with Cream and Cheese in the Spring. Going to the beach with her in the Summer. Teaching her how to surf. Maybe show her how to play tennis or golf or take her bowling. So many things he'd wanted to do with her, and now he finally had the chance.

"Why the heck are you grinning like an idiot when we're stuck here?" Knuckles suddenly demanded.

Tails shrugged. "I just decided to listen to your advice," he said, looking surprised. "I thought you said I should be happy that Cosmo's alive?"

Knuckles thought about this for a moment. "Oh yeah," he said finally. Apparently he'd also been lost in thought, and not about anything good. Probably about Rouge. "That was sure a surprise yesterday, wasn't it? I mean, I know the Master Emerald can do almost anything, but that was really something, huh? Once it's back together again, you should thank it and the chaos emeralds for making that possible."

Tails raised an eyebrow. He knew the emeralds were extremely powerful sources of energy, but thank them? Well, why not? They _had_ brought Cosmo back to him when that should have been impossible. He suddenly felt something like icy fingers running down his spine. It really had been a miracle, her coming back at all. Tails suddenly hid his face behind the boxes. He didn't want Knuckles to see him cry.

_Oh, man, my emotions are really on a rollercoaster today. Come on, got to snap out of this._

But that wasn't as easy to do as it sounded.

…

Merlin sighed as he sat in the entertainment room. The couch sagged, the back was too low for his head, and whatever it was that girl Heather was watching on that screen at the far end of the room, calling it a "music video" was horribly inaccurate. Whatever that racket was, it lacked rhythm, melody, and apparently anyone with the ability to sing. And since when were trousers worn so low that one could trip and fall on them? Some odd customs from that other dimensional world, no doubt. He wondered if older humans ever felt concerned about where the next generation was headed?

"So what do you think?" Heather suddenly asked without looking away from the screen. Since he was the only other person there, Merlin presumed she was speaking to him.

"Give me a stick and I'll kill it," he said, only half joking. The constant banging of the percussion instrument that was playing far too loudly was giving him a headache.

Heather, seated in a chair, leaned far, far back, holding onto the chair with two hands and the arm of the couch with a third to keep from falling off the chair or tipping it over. "You're a cranky ol' cuss, aren't you, grandpa?" She said this with a brilliant smile.

"Are you only playing that to annoy me?" he demanded. She'd spent about twenty minutes getting him to leave his room, then turned that caterwauling on. What was her game, anyway? Sometimes she seemed almost friendly, other times it was as if she were attempting to pick a fight with him.

"Just bored," she said. "If I turn it off, will you tell me something about magic?"

Oh ho…so that was her little game! The thought of allowing such a clearly unbalanced individual to learn true magic was a frightful thought. There was no way he was going to make her any more dangerous than she probably already was!

"I believe I'll be heading back to my room until the doctor returns," he said, pushing down on the couch to get to his feet. Unfortunately, the cushion sagged sideways, nearly throwing him to the floor. He struggled to regain his balance. Suddenly there was a pair of hands supporting him. Two pairs, actually.

"You okay?" the girl asked. "You gotta be careful at your age. You could fall and break a hip or something."

"I'm quite all right, young lady," Merlin assured her. "But thank you for the assistance anyway."

"You don't have to leave, you know," Heather told him. "I'll turn it off."

"That's quite unnecessary," Merlin said, starting across the room. "I was just leaving anyway."

"You just want to get away from me," Heather said, shutting off the tv. "I understand. I won't bother you again." She sat down on the couch and tried to straighten out the cushion. "Stupid couch!" she yelled, as it bent in the middle. "Cheapskates bringing junk like this in here! We had better furniture last year before they got this 'new' trash!" She leaned on the back of the couch, which suddenly sagged, flipping her over it. Merlin hurried towards her, but was too late. She turned a somersault and ended up on her back on the floor.

"This is inexcusable!" Merlin cried, bending over to take two of her hands and help her up. "To think they would have such a defective piece of furniture in a place with ill people…I am outraged. I…"

Heather had thrown her arms around him and was wailing in much the same way his nephew had a few months ago.

"Hey…" he said softly. "What is it? What's the matter?"

"I…I want to get out of here…" she sobbed. "I want to go home…but I don't have a home…please, when you get out…t-take me with you?"

…

"Hey, you okay, kid?" Knuckles asked. He'd been imagining snoozing next to the Master Emerald, once again in one piece, and had been snapped out of his daydream by a strange sound from Tails.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Tails said, rubbing his eyes on his glove. He'd been crying because he was happy, not something he wanted somebody like Knuckles to know about. Tails had been teased and picked on a lot for showing his feelings in public. Well, he couldn't help it if he wore his emotions on his sleeve. That was just the way he was.

"S-so why did you agree to come with us when you know what Amy's like?" Tails asked, hoping to change the subject.

Knuckles shrugged. "Had to do something. The Master Emerald's not completely healed yet, Julie-Su's not speaking to me, and I haven't heard from Rouge since the party."

Tails couldn't see what Knuckles would still like Rouge after what she'd done the day before, but he didn't want to start a fight. Instead he asked, "It can't be a good idea, dating two women."

Knuckles shook his head, making a grimace. "You got that right," he said. "Especially difficult when you invite both of them to the same place. Make sure you don't make that mistake, kid."

Tails sputtered. "I have no intention of asking two girls out," he insisted. "I'm only interested in Cosmo. What about you? Which one do you like most?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Hell if I know," he said. "Wish I did. That would make things a lot simpler."

They sat there for awhile in silence. Finally Tails remembered something that had completely left his mind yesterday when Cosmo came back.

"Uh, Knuckles?" he said sheepishly, hoping he wasn't about to get yelled at. "Could you excuse me for a few minutes while I go look for something?"

"Something for Cosmo?" Knuckles asked. "Didn't you get her enough stuff yesterday? Or are you just trying to ditch me with all the packages?"

"Um…actually, there was a video game that came out yesterday that I forgot all about," Tails admitted. "I just wanted to see if it was still available."

"Sure, I don't mind," Knuckles said, closing his eyes and smiling slightly.

"Really?" Tails asked, placing his packages on the bench where he had been seated. "Thanks, Knuckles, I'll be right back."

"Of course you will," Knuckles said, nodding his head several times. "Because if you're not back by the time slave driver Amy starts yelling at me to move out again, I'm going to tie your tails in a knot."

"Uh…yeah…" Tails said, backing away from the echidna. Knuckles seemed to be joking, but one could never tell with him. "I'll…I'll be right back!"

Knuckles listened to Tails' footsteps as they grew fainter and fainter, then opened his eyes and looked around. Nobody was paying him any attention. He started whistling an old Earth sailor song Hawk had taught him. Hawk. Wonder if the old guy was okay? He'd been the most interesting person in that other dimension that Knuckles had met. Not that strong, but definitely tough. Too bad he'd probably never see him again. But he wouldn't fit in here on Mobius, and Knuckles didn't want to go back to that other place again even if a way was possible. Way too strange. Far too many rules and regulations.

Tails entered the video store and looked around. He didn't see the game on display. Probably sold out. He'd ask about it, but first he decided to browse around a bit. Hopefully Knuckles would have pity and not cripple him in front of Cosmo.

He didn't see anything that particularly interested him, but there was a program for making your own video games. That sounded like fun. He knew Cosmo and Cream didn't like violent games. Maybe he could come up with something they'd both enjoy. Maybe it would help their friendship if they could play something with cats or unicorns of something together.

Blast that Amy! Cosmo and Cream had been like sisters. They seemed to be getting along fine now, but he knew Cream had to still be hurting at least a little. She'd made it clear for such a long time that she was interested in Tails. Should he have tried harder to convince her he wasn't interested?

Tails remembered Debbie, the girl Amy had set him up with. Poor Cream. Now that she was on the rebound, Amy Rose would probably play matchmaker again. Well, maybe she'd set her up with Charmy. He was a bit weird, probably from being raised by Vector, but he'd promised he'd learned his lesson with the whole lock Amy up in the old house thing. And Cream was definitely tough enough to take care of herself. Certainly the bee would be a better choice for his friend than, oh, Bokkun.

…

Pink Andromeda walked along the corridor of her ship. It was a small vessel, given to her by her father on the day he'd assigned her on her mission. As far as she could remember, this was her first mission. Had there been others? Why couldn't she recall them?

As the doors opened, leading to Red Pine's flagship, Andromeda looked around for her father. Where was he? Surely he should be here to congratulate her on doing such a find job on carrying out his orders!

The girl sighed, clenching her fists in frustration. Why? Why was he treating her this way? He was all she had. She reached inside of her top and pulled out the little locket she always wore, even in the shower. It was made of a totally waterproof substance after all, so there was no chance of the contents being damaged. She clicked it open and looked at the picture of the teal-haired girl with a single white flower bud on her head. If only…if only _she_ could be there. But she wasn't. Never would be. But at least her slayer was dead. She clicked the locket shut and pushed it back inside her shirt.

"Ah, princess, you're here." Willow. What was even the point of talking to her? She was a machine. She couldn't know how Andromeda felt. Sometimes she felt so angry she wanted to hit something, while other times she just wanted to curl up into a little ball and cry herself to sleep.

"Yeah, I'm here," the Seedrian girl said at last. "Where else would I be? It's where Daddy-I mean-where the Red King commands me to be, isn't it?"

"I'm certain he appreciates your efforts, princess," Willow said.

Andromeda looked off into the distance. "Yeah…" She shook her head. "Where is the king?"

Willow seemed to consider her next words very carefully. "He's…very busy at the moment, Princess," she said. "But I'm certain he's eager to see you again, even if he doesn't always show it. Some people have trouble showing emotion, you see. But he's always thinking of you when you're not here."

"Are you being honest with me?" Andromeda demanded. "Or are you just telling me what you think I want to hear?"

Actually, he was interested in knowing where she was and what she was doing, but only in regards to her completing his plans. Why he had bothered to have the child removed from her incubator, she didn't know. Surely some Metarex drones could have done what he'd demanded of her. Perhaps he simply felt her very existence showed his importance. Of the Four Kings, only Red Pine had actually produced an heir. True, it was a female heir, but that had been more than the other three had accomplished.

"Why would I lie to my princess?" Willow said at last, avoiding the issue. She waited to see if Andromeda would fall for it. She was both relieved and saddened when the little Seedrian girl's face fell.

"It's because I'm a girl and not the warrior son he wanted, isn't it?" she asked, sitting down on the floor.

"Princess…" Willow said softly, trying to compute something to attract the girl's attention. She'd learned the hard way that Andromeda's bouts with depression would quickly lead to tears then to a fit of rage if not headed off. She still had a slight dent on her back from when the child had lost control and kicked her.

"Don't I do everything he asks of me?" Andromeda went on, now lying on the floor. "Didn't I do good?"

"You did excellent, Princess," Willow said, trying to help her up. "Come now. You don't want to get your pretty clothes all dirty, do you?"

"Who cares?" Andromeda said, clenching her little fists. "He doesn't. Does he?"

"Of course he does," Willow said nervously. "You just need to be patient, and…"

"I don't believe you!" Andromeda cried, kicking and punching the floor. "Liar liar liar!"

"Please stop that," Willow said, picking up the little girl, who started shrieking and kicking her shins.

"I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you!" Andromeda screamed, finally breaking free. She ran across the room and out the door. There was a crashing sound, then a sound like the wailing of a baby. Willow sighed and hurried after her. The Red King would literally have her head if Pink Andromeda had injured herself.

…

"Hey! Where'd Tails go?" Amy demanded as she and the other girls left the department store with more packages of clothes. "Don't tell me he ran out on us?"

"He said he was going to look at a video game," Knuckles said, rolling his eyes at their new purchases. "Don't you lot think you've had enough shopping yet?"

"Buying video games?" Anita asked, grinning. "Something about killer robots maybe? Don't you guys fight enough of those in real life?"

"Boys and their toys," Amy said with a giggle.

"But, we've been getting things for ourselves all day," Cosmo said, thoroughly confused now. "Why shouldn't Tails and Knuckles be able to do the same?"

"They're welcome to look for clothes with us," Amy said, trying to sound like she was doing them a great favor. "Honestly, Tails looks like a dweeb. You don't want to be seen in public with someone dressed like that, do you?"

Cosmo looked at Tails. "What's wrong with the way he's dressed?" she asked. "And if you didn't like it, why are you only just now mentioning it?"

"I think she only just now really looked at him," Anita confided to Cosmo. "Sometimes Amy sees only what she wants to see."

Cosmo nodded. She'd noticed that during their time in space. The way she'd yelled at Tails not to help her find Sonic when he was lost on that jungle planet. Her plans to use charms to get Sonic to fall for her on Marmolim that had ended with Cosmo and Tails falling in the lake together. She remembered the legend about that lake. If two people fell into it together and then looked at the full moon, they'd be bonded together forever. Cosmo realized she'd already developed a bond with Tails before that. She remembered the party he'd helped her with that Knuckles and the Chaotix had nearly ruined. That beautiful gift Tails had given her that day. Oh! Where was it? Since she no longer had an amulet, she felt odd not wearing something on her chest. Perhaps she could wear it instead.

She remembered Galaxina telling her to never take it off. She hadn't explained why, only that it was very important. She hoped she didn't need it. It hadn't come back with her, and she had no idea how to find another one, or if that was even possible, even if Tails took her back to Greengate.

Back to Greengate. She'd have to go back there some time, of course. It was the home world of her people. They'd landed there but she'd been in no mood at the time to look around. Besides, Amy had described it as being "a spooky ghost world," and she wanted to imagine her home world as something wonderful and beautiful, not as something frightening.

"Shouldn't Tails be back by now?" Cosmo asked, looking around worriedly. "Maybe we should look for him. In case something happened…"

"Nah, he's fine," Amy said, grabbing the Seedrian's arm as she started to walk away. "I'm sure he just got all nerdy and forgot what he was doing."

"He's not a nerd!" Cream said loudly, then placed her hand over her mouth.

"Doesn't that word mean something bad?" Cosmo asked, trying to remember where she'd heard it before.

Cream started to answer her when suddenly a red light started flashing on the wall and a siren started wailing.

"Eggman!" Anita cried!

"Ho ho ho! Submit to the Eggman Empire!" suddenly echoed through the mall. There was the sound of music in the background. Tails would have identified it as Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries if he had been there.

"Stupid Eggman!" Amy yelled, pikopiko hammer suddenly in her hands. "Can't we even have one day of fun without him and his stupid ho ho ho? I'll submit this hammer upside his head!"

"Finally!" Knuckles yelled, jumping up. He released the boxes he'd been carrying, causing them to fall on his feet. "Ow ow ow!" What the heck? Clothes didn't hurt when they hit you? What were they buying?

"Hey, don't damage the merchandise!" Amy yelled. "Cream! Make sure Cosmo doesn't get herself hurt. She's out of practice for this sort of thing. Lead her to the underground tunnels where she'll be safe. She doesn't know where they are, and she's really not of that much use in a fight."

Cream nodded, putting an arm around the plant girl. "Leave it to me, Amy!" she promised. The little bunny looked at Cosmo, who was looking as if she wanted to protest. "I know you have new powers, but you're just learning how to use them. You should stay out of the fighting for awhile."

"What about Tails?" Cosmo asked.

"Actually, you should stay with her, Cream," Amy added, not hearing Cosmo's question.

"What?" Cream said, staring at the pink hedgehog. "I've been helping you guys fight Doctor Eggman for years now." She gave Cheese a hug. "We're not afraid of him, are we, Cheese?"

"Chao chao!" Cheese said, giving Cream a thumbs up.

"Well, okay," Amy said. "But make sure Cosmo is safe, and don't attack until you join up with me or Knuckles or somebody, got it? I don't want you fighting him alone."

Cream sighed. "Yeah, I got it," she said. After all this time, she was still the baby of the group, and no one took her seriously.

"Let's go already!" Anita cried, racing off. Amy hurried after her. Knuckles had already disappeared.

"I know you're both right about me," Cosmo said, bowing her head. "I wish I could contribute more to the group. I hate feeling useless…"

Cream wagged her finger at Cosmo. "Don't you start thinking that way again!" she said angrily. "You're not useless. And the best way you can help is to come with me. Come on!" She held out her hand. Cosmo took it and let Cream lead her through the mall towards the exit closest to the tunnel entrance.

"Do you think Tails is all right?" Cosmo asked, hoping Cream at least would listen to her. "He never came back."

"I'm sure he's fine," Cream promised her. "He probably got interested in something mechanical and lost track of time."

"Well…he has done that sort of thing before," Cosmo admitted. "But isn't he in danger?"

"Tails knows what he's doing," Cream assured her. "He's an old pro on Eggman attacks."

Suddenly they heard cries and the fast movement of many feet. "What's that sound, Cream?" Cosmo asked. They rounded a corner of the mall and immediately wished they hadn't. A large group of panicking shoppers, trying desperately to hide from Eggman's attack. Cream and Cosmo were quickly separated in the stampede.

"Cream?" Cosmo cried, as an elbow hit her on the shoulder. "Ouch. Excuse me!" Cosmo tried to get out of the way, but it was nearly impossible to move in any direction other than the one the crowd was moving in, and she didn't want that to carry here away with them. They were going in the wrong direction. She was jostled back and forth. Someone stomped on her foot, much harder than Tails had the day before. She was glad she'd put on those running shoes. Even with them on it really hurt! Then something smacked her upside the head and nearly knocked her down. She had a mental image of falling in that mob and being trampled. She cried out. Then suddenly hands grabbed her under her arms and she felt herself being lifted over the crowd.

"Thank you, Cream!" she yelled over the cries, smiling up at the bunny.

"Don't mention it," Cream said, smiling back. Then her face grew serious. "Why is your face red?"

Cosmo suddenly noticed her cheek was stinging a little. She touched it gently. "Ow. I think Someone hit me with their purse."

Cream winced. "That looks really painful!" she said, flying Cosmo through the mall towards an exit that didn't have a crowd pushing and shoving each other to get through. They'd simply have to go around the mall to get to the tunnels.

"I can't believe how scared those people were!" Cream said. "Grown adults, and they nearly knocked us down and stepped on us! I mean, I don't blame them for being scared, of course. I used to be scared of a lot of things that don't bother me now."

"Me too," Cosmo agreed. "After what I've been through, I'm not afraid of much of anything. I'm not even afraid of dying now, not really, but there's so much I don't want to miss. It would be awful to get killed again, so soon after coming back!"

"Don't talk about dying again!" Cream admonished her. She put her arms around the plant girl. "It's all right, Cosmo. You're okay."

"Thanks to you," Cosmo said. Then her eyes grew wide. "Oh! I have to find Tails! If we got trampled, the same thing might have happened to him! And _he's_ all alone!"

"No," Cream corrected her. "_We_ have to find Tails. Come on."

…

"Hey!" Tails yelled as panicking Mobians stampeded towards him. He'd heard the alarm and Eggman's threat, and was rushing back to the store he'd last seen the others in to check on her. How could he have forgotten about her? He tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. The first animals ran into him, knocking him down. The ones behind them proceeded to trample on him.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Ow! Ow! Stop stepping on me! Ow! I'm trying to…ow!…to help you people! Ow!"

Finally they were gone. Tails moaned and sat up. He winced, placing a hand on his lower back, just above his tails. Now it really did hurt back there. _Arthritis? At my age? Can't be. Maybe I threw my back out. That's all I need, Cosmo comes back and I end up crippled. _His eyes grew large with fright. _Cosmo! What if the same thing happened to her?_

Tails forced himself to his feet. Man, he was sore! He spun his tails. This time, not only did he go around in circles, but it really hurt. He landed on his hands and knees. What was wrong with him?

_Tails are an extension of the spine. A back injury would affect my flight. But I didn't fall that hard yesterday. I could see if the problem happened just now after I got trampled on, but…Oh! Forget about it for now! Find Cosmo!_

Ignoring the pain in his back, Tails searched for Cosmo. He couldn't find anyone. Well, of course they wouldn't have stayed around with a crazed mob. Would they be hiding someplace, or…

"Amy!" Tails said out loud. "She'd rush off to fight Eggman, and drag the others along with her!" Tails rushed for the next closest exit. The best way to make sure Cosmo was safe was to help finish off Eggman's latest creation fast and drive the mad scientist away to lick his wounds. If only he could be of some use. He couldn't fly, and he hadn't brought along the X-Tornado, or, he realized, his phone or radio-controlled device to call his plane. He'd have to get his act together. Since Cosmo's death, he'd practically been a zombie for months, and now that she was back, he was in a cloud. He pushed open a door and stepped outside. Loud clanging noises told him the scene of the battle was coming from the left. He ran down a cobblestoned path with flowers growing on the right hand side and under an archway. He stopped before rounding the corner at the end of the path. The sounds of fighting were much louder now, and he'd learned the hard way in the past not to rush onto the field of battle. There could be a robot, or Amy's swinging hammer, right around the corner, just out of sight until it was too late for him to jump out of the way. And the way he felt, he doubted he'd be very good at jumping at the moment. He stepped to the far left edge of the path and cautiously peered around the corner.

Amy was there, swinging her hammer, about twenty feet away. He saw Knuckles further to the right, both of them confronting a red and yellow machine maybe thirty feet tall. He couldn't see Cosmo or Cream or Anita anywhere.

"Let's get this thing!" Amy yelled to Knuckles. "And you'd better not have damaged anything I bought today! We'll have to hurry back after we've finished and hope nobody stole anything!"

"Don't bother me about your stupid packages!" Knuckles yelled, giving her a glare that would have terrified Tails, but that didn't seem to phase Amy Rose in the slightest.

In fact, Amy just snorted and rushed for the robot. She swung her hammer in an arc, connecting with its ankle. Her hammer shook, the vibrations running up her arms. Ouch. This thing was tougher than Eggman's run of the mill robots. Must have ripped off Metarex technology when he was working with them, the copycat. So far her attacks hadn't seemed to do anything to it. Well, she'd just have to hit harder then! Amy spit on her hands then leaped into the air, swinging her hammer in a complete circle. "Ka-Boom!" Again the vibrations ran up her arms, but it seemed to affect the robot as well.

"Hey, Knucklehead!" Amy yelled, knowing making the echidna angry would translate into him using more muscle against his opponent. "After this fight, I think I'll buy my complete Summer wardrobe!"

"What?" Knuckles yelled, bringing his fist down onto the robot's foot with a loud clang. "You're out of your blinking mind if you think I'm going to follow you dames around all day!" He dodged as it bent over to grab at him, punching its hand. It pulled it's arm back.

_Okay, why let Knucklehead have all the fun? _Amy leaped high into the air and hit the robot in the joint that was the equivalent of a knee, hoping to knock it off balance. "Why are you always so hotheaded!"

"Me?" Knuckles yelled, throwing another punch. "What about you and your yelling about Sonic Sonic Sonic!"

"You sound jealous," Amy said, hitting the robot's other foot. It reached down to swipe at them. Amy dodged, Knuckles didn't. He went flying into a trash can. "I think this robot's trying to tell you something,"

Amy said.

Knuckles struggled to get out of the trash can. Gross! What was that? Gum? Did he have gum on his elbow now? Yes, he did! Disgusting! "Oh be quiet!" he yelled, trying to pull the chewed gum off. Great. Now it was stuck to his glove, and…why was it suddenly so dark?

The robot had lifted its foot to step on the trash can, complete with still struggling echidna. Suddenly there was a blue blur that bounced into the machine's shin.

"Sonic!" Amy cried, hearts in her eyes. "You came to rescue me!"

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled, finally getting out of the trash can by tipping it over and landing on his face. "Come back down to Mobius! We have a job to do!"

Sonic's keen eyes searched the battleground. He noted Tails, who was still trying to figure out how best to help, standing some distance away.

"Where are the girls, Amy?" he asked.

"Cream is helping Cosmo to shelter," Amy explained, racing to Sonic's side. She leaned over, making Sonic a bit uncomfortable, but only whispered, "Your sister's gone to the roof of the department building. She's planning to jump on the robot's head."

Sonic nodded, hoping Eggman didn't have some sort of listening device that might have picked her explanation up. He still wasn't comfortable letting his sister fight, even if she had become a fairly experienced fighter.

"I'm taking the fight to the big man," Sonic said, looking around. His keen sight had picked up an odd shape far off that could only be the Eggmobile. "Scuse me, Ames! Time to juice!" He took off, running up the side of the building then springing to a tree. He ran to the top of the tree and made a leap to the rooftop, where he nearly ran right into Anita.

"Show off!" she muttered, pushing past him.

"Be careful, sis," Sonic said as she sprang from the roof to the tree, not making the leap as well as he did, but probably better than pretty much anybody else other than Shadow could have. She grunted in reply, then leaped to the head of the robot.

…

Colin sighed as he ran over several pages of notes and calculations. He hated checking and double checking everything, but it was important to look over every bit of information. There was something he was missing. The Thorndyke brat had managed to get to that other world by somehow making a connection with this Master Emerald thingy. Yet Colin's uncle had managed to complete a trip going in the opposite direction despite the fact the Emerald was shattered, and no such object existed on Earth. What had he done? And how could they duplicate it? Blast it all! If only he could get his hands on Uncle Julian's ship. He just knew he could figure it all out then!

"What's the secret?" he wondered. He pored over the notes again. Maybe if he could figure out exactly what Chris had done to contact this Master Emerald, even if it wasn't there anymore, he could figure something out.

About half an hour later, Colin realized Chris' notes were incomplete. He hadn't explained why he was so sure he could get his machine to interact with a glowing rock in another dimension. At some point while the animals were on Earth, the pest must have seen it, touched it. He was just a kid then, but maybe the old man had also handled it. Or at least those smaller so-called chaos emeralds. Red and blue emeralds! How childish! Those animals might have been intelligent, but they seemed somewhat simple. Naïve. From what he'd read, politics and debates confused them, even the brainy fox with the two tails. Mutant? Or one of those Japanese monsters that came out of plastic balls in that silly cartoon show he'd seen on tv one morning when he was bored and had nothing better to do than channel surf.

"Blast it!" Colin muttered. "Must I do everything myself around here?" Now he had to go see the twerp. And if there was one thing Colin Robotnik simply could not stand it was Christopher Thorndyke.

…

"Tails!" the fox heard. He turned to see Cream and Cosmo hurrying towards the scene of the battle. He was relieved to see they were all right, but something about Cosmo looked odd. Then he realized she had a bruise on her cheek. He raced towards her.

"Cosmo!" he cried, putting one arm around her and reaching towards, but not touching, her bruise. "What happened to your face?"

"Everyone panicked when they heard the attack," Cosmo explained. "Someone hit me with their purse. It came at me too fast to be sure, but I think it had a metal buckle on it." Then she took a good look at Tails. The fur on his head and tails were scruffy and dusty. She reached up and gently wiped the dust from his hair. She noticed suddenly that he was holding his left arm limply at his side.

"Tails?" she said, reaching for his arm. He winced as she bent it. His elbow was purple. "Oh, Tails! Why didn't you say you'd been hurt! And…Tails? Why does it look like there's a footprint on your back?"

"It's nothing," Tails said, dismissively. "I'm fine."

"It's not nothing," Cream said, shaking her head. "You got knocked down and stepped on, didn't you?"

Cosmo gasped. "Is that what happened?" she asked. "Oh, Tails, I'm so sorry! That nearly happened to me, but Cream grabbed me and pulled me to safety just in time."

"I'm glad she did," Tails said, giving Cream a thumbs up. "Thank you, Cream."

Cream forced herself to smile. He hadn't even asked if she was all right. Well, why should he? He'd seen her go into battle before, she hadn't been killed the last time she got into a conflict, and-of course-he didn't love her. Cream clenched her fists and turned towards the battle. She motioned to Cheese. "Cosmo, you take care of Tails!"

"I don't need taking care of," Tails said, coloring. To his surprise, Cosmo grabbed his other arm and pulled him over to a nearby bench.

"Yes you do," she said. "Sit down, Tails. I know you want to help fight, but you're hurt." She used the same no-nonsense voice she'd used when she'd insisted on bandaging that cut he'd gotten on his forehead falling into the Snake Metarex caverns.

"Yes, ma'am," Tails said. He'd forgotten how forceful she could be if she wanted.

"You should take her to the tunnels so she'll be safe, Tails," Cream said, flapping her ears. Hopefully once there, Cosmo would be able to talk him into staying in the tunnels. He looked terrible! She turned to Cheese. "Let's go! Our friends need us!"

"Chao chao!" Cheese said, flying around her waiting to be thrown into combat.

"Be careful, Cream," Tails said. Well, at least he sounded a little worried about her.

"Always am," Cream said, flapping her ears and flying towards Amy. Maybe a fight would help her to forget what she was feeling at the moment.

…

Some distance away, at the bottom of a mountain, lights used for seeing suddenly flickered and came back on. Slowly, laboriously, a black and grey and red collection of metal parts, leaking fluid, struggled to stand on its mangled legs.

"Statement: This unit has been defeated by target, Shadow the Hedgehog. Analyzing damages…"

Lights flickered in its eyes for a few moments. Finally they returned to a dull red and orange.

"Analysis: This unit has suffered 25% damage to left arm, 38% damage to right arm, 30% damage to left leg, 45% damage to right leg, and 55% damage to body. Possibility of malfunction: 26%. Suggestion: This unit must return to Master for emergency repairs."

Calculating in what direction to go, Omega began to slowly but surely limp his way back to Eggman's headquarters, his jets a twisted, useless mass. It would be a long and grueling journey with his diminished capacities, but nothing could stop E-123 once he had made up his mechanical mind. He would return to his creator, receive the necessary repairs, then track down Shadow once again and finish him off this time.

Or so he believed.

…

Cream flew at Eggman's robot, kicking it with both feet. "Take that, you mean old robot!" She kicked again, then again. "Ow. This robot's pretty hard." She looked at Cheese. "I'm glad I didn't throw you at him."

"That's okay," Cheese said. At least, that was what Cream heard. "I don't…look out, Cream!" The chao flew over her head and struck the robot, which had been about to hit Cream from behind.

"Oh no!" Cream cried out. "Cheese! Are you okay?"

Cheese shook his head. "Yes, but you're right, hitting this robot doesn't feel so good."

"I guess Doctor Eggman's getting too good for us to fight," Cream said sadly, swerving around the robot's head. She considered the possibility of no longer being able to help her friends. It was a sad thought. "Well, only one thing to do. We're both going to have to start working out and improve!"

Cheese looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. "You can count on me!"

…

Bokkun grabbed an ice cream maker off the shelf of a store and calmly walked out. He'd just avoided getting trampled on, and had decided to hover near the ceiling until everybody went away. Mobians were the craziest peoples!

Knuckles rushed past him, nearly crashing into him. Bokkun looked up at the giant killer robot. Darn it! He'd come out the wrong exit into the middle of the battlefield. He ran around a store to get out of the way, and came across a battled fox and a girl with green hair and pink flower buds, sitting on a bench.

"Cosmo?" Bokkun cried. The box fell from his hands and landed on his foot. "Yeow! There goes my ice cream maker! And my foot!" He grabbed his big toe, lost his balance, and fell over backwards. He started rolling back and forth in agony. "Owie owie owie! I'm crippled for life!"

Then his eyes bugged out as he realized he easily could be crippled for life. If not worse.

"If the doctor sees her…ack! I'm dead!" He looked around for Eggman. No sign of him. Maybe he was already fighting Sonic. That guy seemed to be everywhere! And no sound of the doctor yelling out the messenger robot's name. Okay, maybe he could keep them from running into each other…

Then he heard a voice from the large robot. "Ho ho ho! Surrender, you pathetic dolts! If you don't, I'll get mad in a minute! " Oh man! The boss was probably watching everything from a camera in that robot! He had to get Cosmo out of there before the big tub of lard saw her! He hurried towards the bench, hoping Tails would listen to him instead of picking a fight.

To be continued.


	11. Chapter 11: Coming To An Agreement

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Eleven

"Coming To An Agreement"

"Okay, you pile of junk," Knuckles yelled, racing at the robot. "I'm going to take you apart, piece by p…" The robot turned towards Knuckles. Its faceplate lit up. Then it fired a pale blue light at the echidna. Knuckles stopped in mid step, in mid word, as ice began to form on him. Within a couple of seconds he had frozen solid.

"Oh no!" Amy yelled, tossing a hammer at the robot to distract it in case it next decided to try to smash the echidna. "Knuckles! Say something! Unfreeze yourself!"

Anita rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah, that's going to help…"

"Then us girls will have to save the day," Amy said. "Wait. Is it us girls or we girls?" The robot attempted to grab her. She hit its fingers with her hammer and dodged out of the way.

"I think it's we girls," Anita said, jumping on top of a sign and making faces at the robot. "We should ask Tails once the battle's over. Where is he, anyway?"

"Probably looking for Cosmo," Amy said, tapping on Knuckles. "Hey, you okay in there?" There was, of course, no reply.

"Oh cool, he's got a look on his face like 'What the heck?'" Anita said as she was trying to run around the robot. It fired another freeze ray, but she managed to throw herself out of its path just in time. A street lamp was frozen instead. "Woo! That was a close one! Better watch yourself, Amy! This guy really likes giving people the cold shoulder!"

"Too bad none of us have heat powers," Cream said. "Poor Mister Knuckles. What could we use to thaw him out?"

"Rouge in a bikini?" Anita suggested, spin dashing the back of the robot's knee. It staggered a little but quickly righted itself.

Cream blinked. "Huh? How would that make him warmer?"

"Chao chao!" Cheese yelled. Cream flapped her wings and flew out of the way of the robot's grasp.

"Thanks, Cheese!" Cream called. She'd have to pay better attention in the future. She looked around to see if she could spot Tails and Cosmo from the air, and gasped at the sight of a little boy and girl, younger than she was, staring at the fight. Why hadn't they gone to the shelters? She swooped down towards them.

"Wow, you can fly!" the girl said. She was a chipmunk. "How do you do that?"

"I wanna fly and fight big scary robots too!" the boy told her. He was a brown frog.

Cream shook her head, causing her ears to flap around her face. This caused the children to laugh. "No no no," she told them, looking over her shoulder at the robot. "Come on, you two! You can't stay here and watch the fight! It's much too dangerous! Now where are your parents?"

The frog boy shrugged. "They're around here some place," he said.

"I don't know," the chipmunk girl said, her eyes growing big and round as if she'd just realized she'd gotten lost. She looked like she was going to cry. "Mommy?"

Cream put her arm around the chipmunk. "Hush now," she said. "We'll find your mommy as soon as Mister Sonic and the others make that bad ol' robot go bye-bye. Now let's get you to the tunnels where it's safe, okay?"

"But I wanna watch!" the frog boy said, pulling away as Cream reached for him.

"But it's not safe," Cream insisted. "Get back here!"

"Can't make me!" the frog called, sticking his long tongue out at her. "Pbbbttt!"

"That's not a nice thing to do," Cream said, putting her hands on her hips. "Now you behave and do what I say, or I'll throw you over my shoulder and…and carry you like a bag of laundry!"

"Chao chao chao chao!" Cheese yelled, getting right in the frog's face. The little boy backed away from the flying creature.

"Hey! Who-what are you?" he asked.

"That's Cheese, my chao friend," Cream said, suddenly getting an idea. "If you come with us, I'll tell you how we met and about how we fought space aliens."

"Wow…" the frog said, kind of hopping towards them. "Really? Space aliens? Were they green and had zap guns?"

Cream made a face. Cosmo was a space alien and green. Would people think she was bad? Well, time to worry about that later. She jumped forward and grabbed the boy's wrist. "There's nothing wrong with being green! I'm sure you probably have relatives that are! But we'll talk about it when we get someplace safe, okay? Now come on!" He tried to pull free, but she pulled back much harder, dragging him a few inches and causing him to realize that she was a lot stronger than she looked and probably perfectly capable of doing exactly what she'd threatened to do. He quickly decided he didn't want to be carried around like a bag of flour and allowed her to drag him to the shelter. The chipmunk, deciding she'd just found a new hero, followed Cream without any complaint.

…

Eggman had been planning to hover in the sky like usual, watching while his robot committed mayhem, when he suddenly saw a blue streak coming towards him. Blast that Sonic! It looked like he intended to take the fight directly to him! Well, he hadn't failed to learn from Shadow's attack on him some time ago. He pressed a button on his Eggmobile, causing a nearly invisible current to surround it. If Sonic tried to touch him he was going to get a real charge out of it! In fact, the experience would be quite shocking! That tickled him so much he began to laugh out loud at his own jokes. "Ho ho ho…huh?" He'd stopped paying attention when he'd pressed the button, and suddenly he couldn't see Sonic anywhere. He looked around, making his vehicle tilt in all sorts of crazy angles as he attempted to find his archenemy. Archenemy. How that really ruffled his feathers! He, a human from a fine family, with an incredible I.Q. of 300, being consistently bested by a spiky talking rodent that would probably flunk the entrance examination to high school! What had he done in a previous life to deserve such a monkey on his back? Wait…that nearly invisible electric current that was now surrounding his Eggmobile…why couldn't he see it at all? It wasn't supposed to be _completely_ invisible!

"Yo, Doc! You looking for these?" came the most insufferable voice in two dimensions. It was right behind him. The doctor didn't have to look to guess that by "these" his opponent was talking about the wires for the electronic field.

Eggman spun around. "How the heck did you know which wires to pull, or even to pull any?" he demanded. "You're not a scientist! Or a psychic!" Wait. Was he? Sonic had gotten stronger since their time on Earth, and stronger still while in space. What if he _had_ developed some strange new powers in the months since then?

"Next time you decide to set up a surprise, try not to make it so conspicuous," Sonic said, tossing the wires in the doctor's face. "Big multicolored wiring may be all the rage in the best mad scientist homes these days, but they kind of scream 'Hey, look at me! I'm something you want to look at carefully!' Of course, not having Tails with me at the moment, I couldn't quite figure out what those cool looking cords were for, but they didn't look like they were meant for a giant MP3 player so I decided to fall back on the old rule: 'When in doubt, start pulling out wires!'"

Eggman sputtered. That was what he got for being flamboyant! Next time he'd be more clandestine! Still, he couldn't allow himself to be talked to in such a way with what was clearly his inferior. He needed a clever, witty, cutting retort. Unfortunately, not having one readily available, he resorted to an old stand by. "I meant to do that! It was…a test to see if you were on your toes. There's no fun in defeating you if you're not able to give me one hundred and ten percent after all."

Sonic leaned back against the mobile and yawned. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said. "So, are we gonna fight, or are you going to try to bore me to death? Oh, and by definition, one hundred percent is the most anything can have. But then, hey, I've heard you flunked math…"

"That was Einstein!" Eggman said. "And…actually, getting me confused with him is good. Of course, I'm so much better looking than he was…"

"News flash," Sonic said, suddenly on the other side of Eggman. He talked into his hand like it was a megaphone. "Doctor Frankenstein called. He wants you to stay away from his castle. Your face is scaring his monster."

"How dare you!" Eggman yelled, jumping up and down, which caused his eggmobile to bounce around wildly again. Despite this, Sonic, by adjusting his feet and his weight faster than the eye could follow, managed to keep from falling off.

"Hey, doc, you should rent this crazy thing out as a trampoline! It's got a jump house beat easy! "

"I despise you so much!" Eggman yelled. The scientist suddenly noticed laughter, coming from the two way radio connecting his vehicle with his robot. Sonic's smart aleck friends had heard the conversation and were laughing. How dare they mock him!

"Aw, say it isn't so, tubby!" Sonic said, making a face like he was about to cry. Grabbing onto the side of his eggmobile, the mad scientist had it make a 360 degree spin. Sonic, not expecting this, fell off.

"Ho ho ho!" Eggman laughed. "Finally caught you napping, you blue pain in the neck! But then, that's what you get trying to match wits with a super genius! And now, I have an announcement for all of you inferior creatures! I, Doctor Ivo Julian Robotnik, the mighty Eggman, do hereby announce that…"

"Inferior?" Amy Rose cried. She threw another hammer at the robot. Clang! "I'll show you inferior, fatso! Come over here and say that to my face!" She squealed and performed a quick backflip, barely avoiding the freeze beam.

"When I want your opinion I'll give you one!" Eggman said crossly into his intercom system. Such impudence! Now where was he? Perhaps he should have written a speech… "Let me start over," he said sheepishly. "I, Doctor Ivo Julian Robotnik…"

…

"I hate not being able to help," Tails said, getting up from the bench for about the tenth time. "Come on, Cosmo. I'm fine. Really."

Cosmo pushed him back down. "Tails," she said firmly, "you can't fly, and anyway, you're a thinker, not a fighter. Instead of trying to battle Eggman's robots physically, you should try to find a way to stop them without endangering yourself."

Tails colored. "Cosmo…" he said, looking into her eyes. "If I stayed out of the way of battle and just made calculations…I'd feel like I wasn't really contributing anything…"

Cosmo bit her lip and shook her head. "Tails…" she said softly, "no one's going to think you're afraid if you don't rush to attack in every fight. And I've seen you stop both Eggman's robots and Metarex by leaving the battle scene and making plans."

Tails hung his head. "I wanted to get stronger…for you, Cosmo," he said. "But it just hasn't happened. Even taking fighting classes with Knuckles hasn't seemed to help one bit." He stood up again. "Please don't try to stop me. I have to do what I believe is best. And I've handled fights before without standing off to the side. Trust me." He suddenly remembered his most recent battle with the doctor. He'd really lost it that day. Yes, he'd managed to reach Eggman and attack him physically, but his main power was flight, and that simply wasn't working for him right now. In a way it was a relief. He hadn't liked the way he'd gone after the fat man that day. Maybe Cosmo was right after all. At least until he could get his tails working right again.

"But Tails…" Cosmo began. She was interrupted by a sudden shout.

"Hey!" Bokkun cried, racing towards them. "You gotta get out of here!"

"Stay away from her!" Tails said, stepping between them. "I'm not letting you hurt her, Bokkun! Don't take another step towards her! I mean it!"

"Huh?" Bokkun said, stopping in mid-step. "You think I want to hurt her?" he asked, struggling to maintain his balance on one foot. "No way! I'm trying to help her out! I…whoa…whoa!" He fell over backwards. "Owie! That hurts!"

"I don't think he wants to harm me, Tails," Cosmo said, placing her hand on the fox's shoulder. "Please calm down."

"I've seen him pretend to be on our side before," Tails pointed out. "Just like his master. Why do you want to help Cosmo out, Bokkun? You don't even know her that well."

"Hey, it's not just for her I'm doing this," Bokkun said, getting up. "I have to look out for myself too, you know! It wouldn't be good for me either if the Doctor found out about her."

"Why not?" Tails demanded. "What do you have to do with Cosmo?"

Bokkun winced. He'd asked Cream not to tell anyone about him helping her, and apparently she'd kept her promise too well. He looked around, wishing she was there. "Where's Cream?" he asked. "She'll support me on this."

"Nice try," Tails said, pulling Cosmo away from the robot. "You stay away from her too! You're no good for her, Bokkun! You'd end up hurting her!"

"You mean like you did?" Bokkun demanded, starting to lose his temper. "You led her on for months and then dumped her!"

Tails felt his face grow warm. He clenched his fists. "I never led Cream on!" he insisted, getting in the robot's face. "Not for a moment!" But had he?

"That's not the way it looked to me!" Bokkun said, clenching his own fists. "You thought Cosmo wasn't coming back, so you let her think she had a chance, got her all full of hope, then you just threw her away when that plant girl showed up again!"

"Do you honestly believe that?" Cosmo asked, shocked. She buried her head in her hands. "Don't blame Tails. That was my fault!"

Tails looked back over his shoulder at her. "No, Cosmo!" he assured her. "You can't blame yourself for that! That was my mistake! I should have told Cream more firmly I wasn't interested, but I didn't want to hurt her."

"But it _was_ my fault," Cosmo insisted, shaking her head. "Oh, how can Cream ever forgive me for what I've done?"

"Because she's the sweetest, prettiest, most wonderful girl in the whole wide universe!" Bokkun said. "And neither of you deserve her friendship!"

"What about you?" Tails demanded, again blocking Bokkun's view of Cosmo. "You work for Doctor Eggman! Do you have any idea how dangerous those stupid exploding tv sets of yours are? It's a miracle no one's been seriously injured from those things!"

"They're not really _that_ dangerous…are they?" Bokkun asked, twiddling his fingers together nervously. Actually, he had no idea. Sure, he could make them himself, he knew all the ingredients, but only because he'd watched the doctor do it over and over until he got it right. _Were_ they dangerous? "I mean, they make a big ka-boom and blow themselves apart, but…"

"All explosives are dangerous, moron!" Tails yelled.

"Don't call me a moron, idiot!" Bokkun yelled back.

"Stop it!" Cosmo cried, stepping between them much like she had attempted to step between Sonic and Knuckles on that long ago day on planet Zecco.

"Cosmo, please don't get in the way," Tails urged her, grabbing her wrist. "You don't know what he's capable of! He's a lot more dangerous than he looks!"

"Yes I am," Bokkun said. "And you should remember that!" He started to brag about himself then remembered what he was trying to do. "I mean…"

"You see?" Tails said, pulling Cosmo gently away. "This is all some kind of trap."

"No!" Bokkun cried, waving his hands in the air. "Look, can't we go someplace and talk? Where the doctor can't see us?"

"Why are you so concerned about Doctor Eggman seeing me?" Cosmo demanded, looking him in the eyes. He looked away. Those eyes demanded the truth, just like Cream's did. Only Cream's were happy, full of wonder. Cosmo's eyes were sad. There was pain in them. As he looked away he found himself staring eye to eye at Tails. So much anger there. Hatred. And pain. More pain than Cosmo's. How much of that pain was he and the doctor responsible for? Bokkun looked away. Looked down towards his feet. He saw himself knocking down Black Narcissus. With one Bokkun Kick. Maybe, if he and Eggman and Shadow and Rouge had all worked together with Sonic and the others in the first place…

As he was struggling to decide what to say next he suddenly noticed Tails and Cosmo weren't there anymore. "Oh no!" he cried, looking around for them. "Argh! Why won't they listen to me?" He considered making a run for it, but knew he'd end up back at the doctor's hideout sooner or later. He sighed and started to search for them.

…

Andromeda lay on the floor, face buried in her hands, wailing like a baby. As Willow hurried to her, she looked for signs of injury. The girl seemed all right. Then she noticed her left knee was bleeding a little.

"It hurts! It hurts!" she shrieked.

"There, there," Willow said, patting her on the head. "It's just a little scratch."

At her words, Andromeda opened her eyes. She noticed her knee and stared at the blood. "Wh-what's that?" she asked. "Where's it coming from?"

"It's nothing serious," Willow said, helping her to her feet. "You just skinned your knee. Come with me to the infirmary. I'll put a bandage on it."

"But what is this?" the child insisted, touching the blood and holding her fingers up in front of her face. "Why is it coming out of my…uh…knee?"

"Because you've torn the skin and it's bleeding a little," Willow said, leading her to the sickbay.

Andromeda stared at her fingers. "This is blood?" she asked.

"Well, not precisely," Willow said, getting her to sit down so she could get a better look at the injury. "Blood is technically something animals have. What you have is far superior since you are a vegetal being. Here, let me put some antiseptic on it."

Andromeda watched, fascinated, while the robot took what looked a little like a gun and brought it to her knee. "You're not going to shoot me, are you?" she asked nervously.

"It might sting a little," Willow admitted. "But only for a moment."

Andromeda tried to remember if she'd heard that word, "sting," before. Then she felt a burning pain in her knee, and pulled it away from the Metarex. "It burns!" she screamed. She lost her balance and fell over backwards. "You hurt me! I'm telling Daddy!"

…

"Argh!" Knuckles yelled, suddenly breaking free of the ice, sending pieces of frost flying about. "You'll regret doing that, Eggman! Now you're going to…"

"Oh, hush!" Eggman said, having the robot freeze him again. "I'm not through bragging!" As the echidna fell over, Eggman stroked his mustache. "Why are all these creatures so rude today? Sheesh! Now where was I? Oh yes…as I was saying, I, Doctor Julian Ivo Robotnik, the Mighty Eggman, have decided to graciously allow you puny animals to surrender without causing you any harm more than absolutely necessary! Under the new Eggman Empire you will have the right to remain silent, and should seriously take that right! You have the right to work for your glorious new leader until you sadly can no longer prove yourselves useful to me, at which point some other purpose will be found for you. Perhaps as a living battery for one of my machines. Kind of a drag to cart around all that metal, but at least you'll get to travel!"

"You're a sick twisted nutjob!" Amy yelled, throwing a hammer at his eggmobile. "And I say you have the right to shut up and get out of our faces before we hurt you really bad!"

Eggman instructed the robot to freeze her. Amy threw herself onto the ground, scraping one elbow painfully. "Ow…" she said, rubbing the injury. Ugh! Some skin had come off but at least it wasn't bleeding. "You'll pay for that!" she yelled. "How dare you mar my perfect beauty?"

Eggman looked around. "Perfect beauty? Where? Where?"

Amy saw red. "Ohh…you're going to pay for that…"

Eggman moved his vehicle fast, just dodging a flying hammer. Then another. And another. Woo! That girl had a violent temper, and it was getting worse!

…

"I can't help you break out of here," Uncle Merlin told the hedgehog girl. "Even if I could, it wouldn't be ethical. Surely there's someone that can help you…"

"Nobody cares about me," Heather insisted, holding up her four arms. "Look at me. If I were your child, would you want to keep me around to embarrass your friends and neighbors?"

Merlin stared at her. "Your parents…" he began. She shook her head.

"My mother abandoned me on the doorstep of an orphanage when I was born," she told him. "Whoever she was, she sure didn't want me. From what I was told, it was cold that day, but she didn't even give me a blanket. Hoped I'd die and not cause the orphanage any trouble, I guess…"

"That's unbelievable…" Merlin said. He knew Miles had often been mistreated by strangers, but never by his own family. Even Rosemary's and Amadeus' somewhat baffling treatment of the boy the past few months had been well-meaning.

"Believe it…" Heather told him. "And the way the orphans treated me…I could tell you stories that would curdle your blood and send you running into screaming madness…"

"Don't do that," Merlin said, shaking his head at her. "It's nothing to joke about."

Heather sat down on the floor and folded her arms. "No, it's the only way to deal with it. For me, anyway. It's either make a joke about it or think about just what a worthless little freak of nature I am…"

Merlin patted her on the head. "You've had a difficult life, but that's no reason to give up," he assured her. "Or call yourself worthless. Or a freak. You are neither."

Heather pulled away. "You're just like the doctors!" she said. "You say you want to help, but then you don't do anything but tell me to cheer up. Cheer up for what? Either I'm stuck in here the rest of my life, or I go back to that orphanage. You don't know what the kids do to you if you don't fit in."

She pulled back one sleeve, showing a burn on her shoulder. "Somebody snuck in some cigarettes somehow," she explained. I was asleep. Woke up to a pain in my shoulder. Girl with crazy eyes hissed she'd burn two of my arms off."

"That is inexcusable!" Merlin cried. "As soon as I am out of this place, I'll see to it that sort of thing doesn't happen again."

Heather snorted. "You and what army, grandpa? Even if the workers listened to you, they don't watch those jerks every minute. They'd catch me sooner or later and make me pay for telling on them." She laid down on the floor.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Get up, child."

Heather shut her eyes. "No," she said. "I'm dead."

"You should never talk that way," Merlin said, trying to pull her to her feet. She pushed him away.

"If you don't take me with you, I might as well be," she insisted.

A nurse stepped into the room. "Dr. Gantan has just arrived," she said. "She should be able to see you soon, Mister…what are you doing down there, Heather?"

"I'm dead!" the hedgehog insisted.

The nurse, a mole, ran her fingers through her hair, then stooped to pull the girl off the floor. "Don't make me call Harry," she warned.

"I'm certain that will not be necessary, young lady," Merlin said, taking hold of one of Heather's hands. "Come now, girl. On your feet."

Heather suddenly jumped up and ran from the room. "I hate you!" she shrieked. "I hate you all!"

"She does that all the time," the nurse said. "I'll call you when Dr. Gantan is ready for you." She walked calmly out of the room, clearly not at all concerned about the girl.

Merlin clenched his fists. Heather was right. She couldn't go back to that orphanage. But there was no way he could take care of her. He sighed. The poor thing would probably need to stay here indefinitely.

He sat back down on the couch, more careful this time. It probably wouldn't do any good, but he could ask around. See if he could find someone willing to take in someone that had no place else to go.

Merlin leaned back on the couch and soon dozed off. He was awakened suddenly by the same nurse.

"Is the doctor ready for me?" he asked. Then he noticed her confused and somewhat frightened face. He was suddenly fully alert. "What is it? What's happened?"

"Heather's not in her room," the nurse said. "Or anyplace else I've looked."

"What?" Merlin demanded, standing up. "How could you not be able to find her?"

"I don't know," she said, looking about nervously. "But if I can't find her I could lose my job."

…

"Are you really certain we shouldn't have stayed and learned what that little fellow was trying to tell us, Tails?" Cosmo asked as the fox led her by the hand towards the nearest entrance to the city's tunnel system. Nearby, they could hear the sounds of fighting, although a large department store blocked their view of the battle. And Eggman's view of them.

"I'm sorry, Cosmo," Tails said, looking about for any sign of Cream. "But sometimes you're as…innocent as Knuckles about lies and tricks." He'd started to say 'gullible' and mentally cursed himself for that. Well, now that she was here, he was sure that he and the others could quickly teach her how things went on Mobius. She was far more patient and open to new ideas than the unfriendly echidna, who was still fairly ignorant of how things worked since he refused to listen to anyone for very long.

Cosmo hung her head. "Forgive me," she said. "I'm still causing you…"

"No you're not!" Tails said quickly, putting his arm around her. "Please stop saying that. You've never caused me any problems. You need to stop thinking that way."

"I'm sorry," Cosmo said. "Wait, now I've apologized yet again. I'm sorry. I mean…"

"It's okay," Tails said, ruffling her hair. "Sorry if I'm sounding bossy. I just worry a lot. I'll try not to so much, but…"

"Now it's my turn to reassure you," Cosmo said. "I understand your concern. It's very touching. But don't let your worrying make you sick. I'm back. I'm well. And after what we've been through with the Metarex, if Doctor Eggman is the worst thing in our future, then we definitely have things better now than we did in the past, don't we?"

"Yes, we do," Tails said, taking her hand again. He smiled. "You always know just what to say to cheer me up, Cosmo. Now come on. The tunnel entrance is right over here."

Cosmo nodded. A moment later came a clanging sound, followed by another. "I think the fight's moving towards from us," she told him.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Tails said. "We need to move cautiously from now on. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm not that fragile, Tails," Cosmo assured him. "Please try not to worry." She started forward again. Then she felt Tails' hand pull gently on her wrist. She looked over at him.

"Bokkun was right about one thing," he told her. "It could be dangerous for you. Sometimes Eggman fights really dirty, and he's been at his worst lately. I'll go and check on her, then meet you back here. Okay?"

Cosmo looked unconvinced. "But…it could be dangerous for you as well," she pointed out. "You can't fly, remember? And besides, you said your back was giving you trouble…" She looked him in the eye. "You're worried about me getting hurt again," she said in a serious voice. It wasn't a question. "Well, I feel the same way about you. You don't want me to fight. I don't want to see you fighting either."

"I don't know what the problem is," Tails told her. "But my back suddenly feels a better. I'm going to try flying again." He saw the look on her face. "Just to check on Cream. Then I think we should stay in the tunnel until the fight's over. All right?"

"All right, Tails," Cosmo said. "Just be careful and don't overdo it. I don't want you to strain yourself." As she watched him, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and sighed with relief. It was Cream. Then she gasped as she saw that the little bunny seemed hurt. What was that on her face? Blood?

"Come on!" Tails snarled, spinning his tails. "Work this time!" He found himself shooting straight up into the air. Then suddenly he felt a hand grab his ankle. He looked down, shocked. "Cosmo? What are you doing?"

"Cream's hurt!" she said, starting to swing from his foot. Ordinary, this wouldn't have been a problem, but since he was having trouble flying, she began to pull him down. She didn't seem to notice this, however, as she kicked her now running shoe clad feet forward, throwing herself towards Cream. Her skirt billowed out as she floated towards the bunny. "I have to see if she's okay!"

She winced as she saw both the robot and Dr. Eggman as she drifted out from behind the side of the building that had until just now blocked them from each other's sight. Eggman and his machine were closer than she'd thought. She remembered what Bokkun had said and noticed the Doctor's expression. Well, of course he'd be shocked, just like everyone else was to see her alive. That didn't mean the little robot was right, did it?

She heard a gasp as she floated towards the tunnel. As she landed, Cream grabbed her arm. "Come on!" she hissed. "You're a sitting duck here!" She started dragging Cosmo into the tunnel. Once inside, she turned around and shook her head. "That was very dangerous, Cosmo," she said.

Cosmo looked confused. "What? I came because you're hurt! What happened to your face?" She reached out and touched the little bunny's cheek.

"I'm fine," Cream said. "I was making some punch for the people hiding here and I got some on me. Cherry flavored."

Cosmo blushed. "Oh," she said. "I feel so stupid…"

"It's all right," Cream said. "I'm glad you're concerned, but you need to be more careful. You can't fly, can you. You just floated, right?"

Cosmo nodded. "I don't know how I managed to fly that one time," Cosmo admitted. "Perhaps I still haven't learned how to do that, or perhaps I needed my amulet, and it's gone now, but…"

"Once you're in the air, floating, you can't change direction very well or stop or go back, can you?" Cream pointed out.

Cosmo considered this. "I can change direction a little if I work on it," she said. "The rest, no."

Cream sighed, puffing out her cheeks. "Tails and I can do that kind of thing, get in the doctor's face like that," she explained. "We can fly. I can't maneuver as well as he can, or fly as long, but I'm faster until my stamina wears off. Tails has helped me to dodge attacks pretty well while in the air, just like Amy has helped me do the same thing on the ground. I know you're good at dodging on the ground too, I've seen you, but in the air you're completely helpless if somebody decides to shoot at you. You're lucky the doctor seemed too much in shock to do anything when you floated past him. But he'll be over that shock next time." Her face darkened. "You have to be more careful, Cosmo! I don't know how you could come back, but I don't think Mister Sonic or Mister Shadow could do it again, and I don't want to find out! Don't you remember what Tails was like all these months? Do you want to get hurt…or worse…and make him suffer again?"

Cosmo hung her head. "I-I'm sorry, Cream. You're right. I wasn't thinking. I thought you were hurt and I acted without thinking. I guess I'm just too impulsive…"

"Don't be sorry," Cream said, patting her on the shoulder. "Be more careful. I don't want to lose you again."

"I don't want to go again either," Cosmo admitted. "Or get anyone hurt because I did something foolish. Dr. Eggman seemed very shocked to see me. Maybe I should have listened to Bokkun."

Cream had turned away to wave at the chipmunk girl. She and the frog boy had both managed to find their parents in the tunnels, safe if somewhat shaken up. She spun at the mention of the messenger robot's name. "Bokkun?" she repeated. "What did he say to you?"

"He said he and I would both be in a lot of trouble if the doctor saw I was alive," Cosmo explained. "I don't understand. Why would _he_ be in danger?"

Cream shook her head. "I don't know," she said, "but he's been trying to reform. I'll ask him the next chance I get. Why didn't you do what he asked?"

"Tails told me not to trust him," Cosmo admitted. The little bunny made a face.

"Bokkun was the one that warned me about the robot that looked like you," she said. "I should have mentioned it yesterday. I didn't think we'd run into him again so soon." Whoops! No one was supposed to know that the messenger robot had shown up yesterday at the party.

"Do you really think he's changed, Cream?" Cosmo asked. "He wasn't very nice to us when we were fighting the Metarex."

"He might be rude and silly, but he's not evil," Cream insisted. "And yes, I do think he's trying his best. He's changed since you knew him, Cosmo. Honest he has."

"Well, maybe…" Cosmo said. "But this isn't the time or the place to talk about him. Let's worry about his master first."

"Yeah…" Cream said, looking back towards the battle. "Hopefully he'll stop calling him 'master' pretty soon…"

"You're not helping the others fight either?" Cosmo asked.

"Huh?" Cream said, the question pulling her thoughts away from the messenger robot. "I just had to help a couple of kids get here safely," she explained. "Of course Cheese and I are going to help. Aren't we, Cheese?"

The chao, also splattered with red punch, nodded. He was just finishing a glass. "Chao chao!"

"But you really should stay where it's safe," Cream said. "Oh, here comes Tails. Goodness, he's sure having trouble flying, isn't he?"

Cosmo gasped as she saw the fox fly around in a couple of circles before landing just outside the tunnel. "Doggonit!" he muttered. "What the heck?" He was suddenly shocked as Cream grabbed his arm and pulled him in.

"You shouldn't be out there flying all crazy like that!" she admonished him. "Honestly, first Cosmo and then you! I can see I'm going to have to watch your two to keep you out of trouble!"

Whoa, Tails thought. Cream can be pretty scary when she wants to be. "Sorry," he said. "I just wanted to make sure Cosmo was all right."

"Well, we're all fine," Cream pointed out, rubbing most of the punch off of herself, then off of Cheese. "Let's keep it that way, shall we?" She looked towards the scene of the battle as a loud crash was heard. "But that robot simply has to go away! Ready, Cheese?"

"Chao chao!" Cheese said, flying over to her.

"Be careful, Cream," Cosmo said.

"Always am," Cream said, racing out and heading towards the battle. The way the tunnels were made, Eggman couldn't see in unless he was right against the opening, but no one inside could see out.

"Tails?" Cosmo asked after a few minutes. "I promise I'll stay out of the fight unless absolutely necessary, but I really do have to see what's going on. The suspense is ki-upsetting me."

Tails nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "I'm sure it will be safe if we're careful. Let's go."

…

Eggman had gasped in shock as he saw the plant girl. "What the hell?" He rubbed his eyes, then looked again, completely flabbergasted. "But…but…it can't be! I mean…she's dead! I saw her die! Well, I didn't exactly see her die, but…"

"Hey, Eggy," Sonic said, rushing between them. He didn't like the way the fat guy was reacting to the Seedrian. "Are we going to fight, or, from the way you're rubbing your eyes, do you need a nap and your blankie?"

Eggman glared at Sonic and started to make a retort, then looked at Cosmo again as she drifted out of sight. "Wait, I just have to say this: She's alive! She's alive, she's alive, she's alive! SHE'S ALIVE! Now I know what it feels like to be God!"

Sonic stared at him. "Whoa, Doc, chill. I think you just blew your mind. Cut back on the old monster movies." That last comment had made him feel kind of strange. He'd been trying to not think about what he and Shadow had done. He wasn't a god, and certainly didn't want to be one.

As if he'd just read his mind, Eggman asked, "Are you responsible for her coming back?"

Forcing himself not to look as odd as he suddenly felt, Sonic said, "Well, Shadow and I both helped some." He grinned as he thought of a way to annoy the doctor. "Lost control of him, didn't you? I hear he really put a good scare into you, doc."

Eggman sputtered. "That's beside the point!" he snarled. "You…you…don't you mock me, hedgehog! I am…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sonic said, waving his hands around. "'I am Doctor Julian Ivo Robotnik, with the mind-boggling I.Q. of 300, and I will demand the proper respect that a person of my greatness deserves.' Did I leave anything out?"

"Well, let's see," Eggman said, stroking his mustache. "I think…Argh!" Eggman yelled at his robot. The machine fired a freeze ray at Sonic. The hedgehog was too quick for it, and Eggman yelped as his Eggmobile was nearly frozen instead with him in it. "Now cut that out! Stupid robot! Freeze the hedgehog, not your master!"

Sonic was suddenly back in his face again. "What's the matter, doc? Big bad robot won't do what you want? Maybe you should quit this line of work and take up knitting. You're kind of getting on in years, aren't you?"

"Hey!" Eggman yelled, pounding his fists together so hard they hurt. "That's getting a bit too personal there, rodent! Get him!"

Sonic started to point out for probably around the two hundredth time or so that he wasn't a rodent, but decided to dodge the robot instead. He leaped into the air, somersaulted, and gave it a kick in the chest. Clang! Oh yeah, definitely one of the doc's tougher tin soldiers. Well, let him make stronger robots. Sonic would just make him angrier by destroying them as well.

Eggman suddenly remembered Cosmo's return should have been impossible. "But Bokkun was supposed to…"

"Supposed to what?" Sonic demanded, bouncing off the robot's head to get back into the doctor's face again. "What was Bokkun supposed to do?"

Eggman suddenly realized he was way too close to a Sonic who was getting far too angry for his liking. He remembered the dark angry Sonic that had attacked Black Narcissus' robots months ago. "Uh…excuse me…" He spoke quickly into a microphone. "Get that hedgehog!"

The giant robot swung its huge hand at Sonic, just missing hitting the Eggmobile. Sonic glared at Eggman, then turned his attention back to the machine. Time enough to find out what the fat man was talking about later.

Sonic leaped into the air, bouncing off a lamp post, and spin dashed the robot. Sparks flew up and Sonic felt his body shake. Yup. This one was pretty tough. Well, that just meant _he'd _have to get tougher. He started spinning again, allowing himself to pick up more momentum, then once more threw himself at the robot. CRASH! Ah, that was more like it!

"Don't you ever get tired of going through the effort to make these things just so you can watch me break them?" he said, hoping to goad Eggman into losing his temper and doing something stupid.

"How dare you?" the egg-shaped human cried, adjusting his glasses. "I'll wipe that smirk off your face yet, hedgehog!"

"Try doing it while we're young, Doc!" Sonic said. Then he grinned. "Whoops! Too late in your case! Oh well, maybe the next incarnation!"

Eggman pointed a weird looking gun at him. "I'll incarnate you!"

Sonic was suddenly standing on his head. "You'll…incarnate me," he repeated , bending over so he could stare upside-down into the doctor's face. "What does that even mean? Is that supposed to be a threat or something or what?"

Eggman attempted to hit Sonic's foot with his fist and only managed to bop himself upside the head. "Ow! Doggone it!" The blue blur was already back at his robot again, running up one leg, then jumping to the arm and racing up it to the shoulder. He leaped to the face and noted his reflection in the burnished metal surface.

"Man, do I look good today," Sonic said, brushing back his quills with his hand. "Guess I can't blame Amy for chasing me."

"Hey!" Eggman yelled, shaking his fist at Sonic. "I didn't build that so you could use it to admire yourself! Knock it off!" He finally fired his weird gun. It fired a brilliant red laser at the hedgehog. But Sonic had already moved to the top of the robot's head and was doing the Robot.

"Stop dancing up there!" Eggman yelled, firing again. Sonic was gone again. A blur raced about the obese mechanic, and suddenly his gun fell apart. Sonic held up a handful of screws.

"Don't look now, Doc," he quipped, "but you've got a few screws loose!" He tossed them in the air. Despite his lighthearted bantering, Sonic was trying to control his anger. Eggman had obviously been about to say something serious about Cosmo. It was like he had been certain she shouldn't be there, even if Chaos Regeneration worked. Also, he couldn't forget what he knew for sure that Eggman _had_ done. Metal Cosmo. Tails might not have ended up where he did if not for that event. And how much worse would it have been if the poor little guy hadn't been warned that it wasn't really Cosmo?

Sonic suddenly leaped right in Eggman's face, stopping only a few inches away from him. "If you do anything to Cosmo, or Tails, or any of my friends, you'll find yourself wishing you were facing the laughing, joking Sonic." Sonic tapped the doctor's oversized red nose with his finger. It was intended to both irritate the human, and make it clear that Sonic could get to him before Eggman could react to his approach. Sonic sprang away, racing back for the robot.

There was the sound of cracking ice as Knuckles once again broke free. "Argh!" he yelled. "Why am I the one this kind of nonsense always happens to?"

"Because you're the slowest," Anita said, leaping into the air and bouncing off his head. "You need to do less boxing and more track."

"Maybe all of you just can't stand still for a second!" Knuckles yelled. "And my head is not a trampoline!"

"Stop stealing my lines, echidna!" Eggman yelled, ordering his robot to freeze Knuckles yet again. This time Knuckles managed to throw himself out of the way.

"Stop doing that!" Knuckles yelled through clenched teeth. He gave a mighty leap, trying to get close enough to punch Eggman out. The villain managed to dodge.

"Uh uh uh, Knuckles," Eggman said. Whenever Sonic got him all riled up with his sarcastic quips, picking on the echidna was always good for making him feel great about himself again. Perhaps that was why Sonic teamed up with him so often. Easy to look good in comparison with that ninny.

"Watch out, Knuckles!" Amy yelled as the robot fired another freeze ray. Too late. "Never mind."

"Ho ho ho!" Eggman cried. Yes! He knew he could count on the red hothead. "Who wants freeze dried echidna?" Realizing Sonic was just too fast, he sent it after Amy, the next most annoying troublemaker. She screamed and jumped about like a maniac, barely dodging it until Sonic spin dashed it, causing it to turn back towards him again.

Cosmo decided that despite Tails' concern and her own request that he not fight for her, she needed to do something to feel useful. Surely making vines attack the robot would be safe if she didn't get too close. Of course, she had no idea what the range of that new power was. Well, good time to find out. If she needed to get within a few feet of him she wouldn't do it. Hopefully that wouldn't be a problem.

She shut her eyes and concentrated. Nothing happened. She wasn't even sure exactly what she had done the two times she'd made vines move. What did those two occasions have in common? Oh. Of course… She swallowed and forced herself to imagine the robot was attacking Tails. The ground trembled, this time not from the robot's heavy footsteps. Cosmo opened her eyes as vines wrapped around the machine's feet. She winced. She'd done it, but only by thinking of something that repulsed her. Perhaps she was more like her father than she wanted to admit…

"Nice work," Tails said.

"I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to pull it off its feet," she told him sadly.

"It's okay," he assured her. "You don't have to. We're a team, remember? Now it's time for me to do my part. And don't worry, it doesn't include flying."

…

Red Pine rose from his solid gold throne and motioned to one of the drones to bring him his cape and fasten it around his neck. "Hurry, you bungler!" he said. "I haven't all day you know!" Once the cape was secured, he gave the drone a push that nearly knocked it off its feet and left his throne room. He stepped onto the floor of the corridor beyond his room, which began moving towards a heavy metallic door. On either side he passed his possessions, items he'd either scavenged from the dead kings, or that he or his followers had managed to secure for him. Sculptures and paintings and odd bric-a-brac of a hundred planets and more had been brought and placed about his home and ship. As the door opened he stepped outside and looked around at huge trees towering high into a sky at last blue once again.

"Ah, Greengate, most beautiful and majestic of all worlds," he said, walking down a long abandoned road. "For a time I truly thought that I would never see you again. And who knows what might have been if that maniac Lucas hadn't been stopped." He noticed a patch of wild flowers growing nearby and strode from the road to them. He plucked one large red blossom, sniffed it, then, carrying it in his hand, returned to the road. "What would you have done, spent eternity staring into space, half asleep, satisfied that you had destroyed all animal life in the galaxy and only we plants were left?" he demanded of his fallen leader. "Fool! There's no joy in conquest if you do nothing with what you've conquered once you have it!"

He made a face as he approached a large building. The door opened at his approach and he stepped inside. Fool! What had he been thinking when he'd killed all the women? All except that whiny little brat, Cosmo? No doubt he hadn't been thinking. Just wanting revenge. Revenge against an old woman that had already become a tree and couldn't fight or run away. Had it been him, Pine would have kept Hertia alive. Brought her carefully onto the Metarex mothership. Made her watch as he conquered planet after planet. Made her view her daughter, her last hope for a future without the Metarex, being forced to serve them. Yes, that would have made revenge much sweeter.

His face suddenly clouded. He had never been able to find out exactly what device Dark Oak had used on Cosmo, or which he used to see through her eyes and hear through her ears. Of course, he wasn't a scientist like Black Narcissus and Pale Bay Leaf had been, but they hadn't seemed to known either. All information about what Cosmo was transmitting had come directly from Oak and his drones. Why the secret? And what other secrets had their former commander been hiding from them? Well, whatever they were, they had died with him. It was galling to probably never know, but at least he could enjoy the knowledge that he was alive and well and Lucas…was probably some place very very hot!

He looked up to see Pink Andromeda's ship approaching. Good. Good. It was all coming together. Soon he would have more than Dark Oak had ever had!

…

"Damn it!" Knuckles yelled, breaking free of the ice yet again. "Why am I the one that all the crazy stuff always happens to?"

"Just lucky, I guess," Sonic suggested, looking over at the robot. "What do you say we finish this thing now?"

"I'm ready!" Amy said, hefting another hammer.

"Give us the word, big brother!" Anita said, dropping down to one knee like a sprinter waiting for the starting gun to fire before a big race.  
"Cheese and me too!" Cream said, holding the chao in her hands.

"Chao chao!" Cheese said in a tone that made it clear he had had enough of this as well.

"Let's take this creep down!" Knuckles said, pounding his left fist into his right palm.

Tails looked over what was happening from the tree he and Cosmo were standing under, trying to decide the quickest, easiest way to take the robot down. "Okay," he shouted. "Knuckles! You're not fast enough to dodge its freeze ray, so stay back and try throwing those rocks over there at it. Amy! Go for its left leg with your hammers! Anita! Get to the roof and see if you can damage its head so it stop firing those cold blasts! When it starts to fight back, move to the top of its head. It can't blast you there and should have difficulty hitting you!" He looked over at Cosmo. He hated getting her involved in the fighting, but she should be safe from a distance. "Cosmo! Be ready to trip its right leg with your vines! Sonic! Spindash to the chest!"

Cosmo smiled. It was nice knowing he worried about her, but it was also great to see he was willing to let her help. "I'll do my best, Tails!"

Everyone nodded. Knuckles leaped back and tossed several rocks, sending it off balance. Anita, leaping from Sonic's head to the awning over an entrance door to the roof, dropped down onto the top of the machine's head and punched it in the face. As its face plate lit up she sprang back to the top of its head.

Sonic spun faster and faster, then hit the wall, bounced against a tree, and plowed into its chest. At the same time, Amy tossed a hammer at the robot's left leg. Cosmo gritted her teeth and shook her fists, causing heavy vines to wrap around its other leg. She threw up her arms just as Amy tossed a second hammer at the left leg. The robot staggered, just as Knuckles hit it in the stomach with another rock and Sonic, still bouncing, hit the robot higher in the chest. He spun upwards as the robot went down, grabbing his sister, and spinning towards the roof. The machine hit the ground with a mighty crash that shook the ground violently.

"Now, Knuckles!" Tails cried. "It shouldn't be able to freeze you until it adjusts to that fall! Get up there and smash its face in!"

The echidna sprang into the air, coming down with all his weight. There was an explosion as the plate shattered, nearly knocking Knuckles over backward.

"Jump, Knuckles!" Tails yelled. "Get out of there!"

The echidna sprang off of the robot just as its entire head blew up, showering him with shrapnel. Knuckles put his head down and ran.

"Everyone get out of the way!" Tails cried. "And whatever you do, don't look at the robot! It's about to blow and the explosion could be blinding! " Cosmo and Amy both leaped away like ballerinas as sparks flew wildly about the automaton.

KA-BOOM! The robot flew apart explosively, raining shrapnel everywhere. Fortunately no one was hit by any of it.

Eggman blinked as he rubbed his eyes. He'd stared at his robot a bit too long before realizing he should look away. Finally his vision cleared, but he didn't like what he could suddenly see one bit. "Uh…" he looked around at the Freedom Fighters, who were all giving him very unpleasant glares. "Um…good bye, please!" As his Eggmobile shot straight up, rising into the sky, a single vine knocked it sideways. It began to spin about wildly.

"Whoa, Cosmo," Amy said, looking at the plant girl. "You've still got some issues, haven't you?"

Cosmo shook her head. "Sorry," she said. "I just…what he's done…to me…to Tails…to all of you…I guess I still have a lot of anger left inside of me."

"Well, Eggman is a good person to let that anger out on," Knuckles said. He started smashing all of the ice the robot had made. "Don't want anybody to slip on this and fall. Somebody get a bucket or something and help me collect this."

"Yes sir, Mr. Knuckles!" Cream said, looking at her chao friend. "Come on, Cheese!"

"Chao chao!" Cheese said, and the two of them were off.

"You see?" Cosmo asked him, looking into his eyes. "You help a lot more than you think., even without actually fighting yourself."

"Well…maybe," Tails admitted. "And you did great without getting close enough to get stepped on." He rubbed her forehead. "Just be careful. You might experience a psychic backlash if the plants you're controlling are damaged. If you feel anything strange or the slightest bit painful, make sure you break the connection, okay?"

Cosmo nodded. "Okay! But we need to talk later about future battles, Tails."

Tails sighed. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "I don't want you getting hurt, and I see you feel the same way about me. But you're right. We can't run and hide when our friends are fighting. Hopefully I'll be flying right again soon, and then I'll be getting more into combat again."

"And maybe I'll be able to do more once I'm mastered this new ability better," Cosmo added.

Tails gave her a hug. "I just couldn't bear it if something happened to you again. But I want you to be happy and feel useful."

Cosmo nodded. "I think we're well on the way of taking care of that already," she said. "Now let's help Cream and Knuckles with clean up duty! There are a lot of nuts and bolts lying around we need to pick up before someone steps on them and falls down. Oh! I'm sorry! I forgot you were hurt…"

"It's okay," Tails assured her. "I feel much better now." He took her hand and they hurried to start cleaning up the mess.

"Knuckles," Sonic called from what was left of the robot's body. "Help me cart off this stupid thing and toss it someplace."

"Figures," Knuckles griped, grabbing an arm. "Whenever there's heavy carrying to do, everybody calls on me."

"Well you're so good at it," Anita said, grinning.

"That's true," Knuckles said.

…

Colin stared at the figures on the computer screen in front of him. If he was reading them correctly, and he had no doubt he was, for after all, wasn't he the grandchild of the greatest scientific mind of the age, then he was finally starting to get somewhere. The tenth time he'd gone over the notes Chris Thorndyke had left on the device before leaving on his joyride through space and time, he'd discovered something interesting. While the Master Emerald he had used to guide him to Sonic's world would no longer be there to make contact with, Thorndyke had used it because it was the largest and most powerful magical gem on the planet. While Chris had stated the smaller Chaos Emeralds had been depleted of power, he'd also said there were a number of imitations with similar, if not identical powers. Perhaps Colin could interface with these false Chaos Emeralds and open up a portal through them. The problem was one probably wouldn't be enough. But maybe if that fox or Colin's uncle kept several in one area, perhaps for study, he could lock onto them. It was worth a try.

He started typing in a few codes he'd been working on. "Come on," he muttered, looking into a special scope. "Give me your secrets…"

He heard the door behind him slide open. Then an annoying voice said, "Hey there. You wanted to see me? So what's up, Colin?"

Colin froze. He planted a fake smile on his face before turning towards the speaker. Christopher Thorndyke. "Hello there, sir!" He said in the best imitation of a friendly tone he could make for someone he disliked so firmly. To think he had to call that freak "sir" while the punk referred to him by his first name! What a world when someone with money could control those that were so obviously his betters. "I'm terribly sorry to have had to have dragged you away from your busy busy schedule, Mr. Thorndyke, sir…"

Chris shook his head. "Not at all, Colin," he said, grinning, it seemed to Colin, like a loon. "Always glad to help out an employee. Especially one so helpful in this big project." His eyes grew far away. "Imagine if it someday becomes possible for two way travel between dimensions. What wonders could be discovered? What fascinating information could we learn from long time study of Mobian society and culture."

Colin tuned out most of that. The kid just went on and on when he started his talk about Sonic's planet. Colin didn't care about their society or culture. After all, once he got there, he didn't expect such things to last very long. Not once he took over and established a new order on that world. King Colin the First. Yes, he liked the sound of that! But first, he'd have to get there…

"Uh…excuse me," he said, finally getting a word in edgewise. "I have a few questions I need to ask you about this Master Emerald and your first voyage across the dimensions…sir…"

"Oh," Chris said. "Sorry. Guess I did kind of ramble there. So what exactly was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

_Just keep putting up with this ninny a little longer, _Colin told himself. He took a deep breath, then asked his first question.

…

Once all signs of the robot and the battle were cleared away, a search of the mall and the surrounding area failed to reveal anyone with any serious injuries. The mall was deserted, and, luckily, their purchases hadn't been stolen or even trampled on. Unfortunately, the mall had suffered fairly extensive damage, and would be closed for awhile. If not permanently..

"Stupid Egghead!" Amy yelled as she loaded down Knuckles again with packages. "Who knows when we'll be able to go shopping again!"

"Whenever that is, you'll be doing it without me!" Knuckles insisted. He looked over at Sonic. "Hey! What about blue boy?"

"Uh…I was just leaving…" Sonic said, taking a step backwards.

"Don't be silly," Anita said, tossing her purchases at him. "Now be a good big brother and carry your little sister's bags and maybe I'll treat you to a chili dog on the way home."

"Well, I can never say no to a chili dog…" Sonic admitted. He grinned and looked over at Knuckles. "Bet I can carry more than you can, Rad Red!"

Knuckles snorted. "In your dreams, wise guy!" he yelled. "I could carry the entire mall…probably…if I needed to!"

"Okay," Sonic said, tossing everything he had onto the echidna. "Let's see you prove it, Hercules!"

"Ha!" Knuckles said, no longer able to see in front of him. He started to walk towards a lamp post. "Piece of cake!"

Anita grabbed his shoulders and pointed him towards the road. "Onward, mighty champion! Show us your power!" She placed a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling.

Cosmo, noticing all of this, turned to Tails. "Uh…I hate to say this, but…are they taking advantage of Knuckles' trust?"

Tails sighed. "He's easily strong enough to handle it," he said, walking along carrying Cosmo's purchases. "I think if you point out right now he's being tricked it will hurt his pride."

"But…it's not right…" Cosmo said, looking over at Knuckles again. Then she looked back at Tails. "Please, Tails, you're hurt. Let me carry that."

"I'm okay," he assured her. Actually, he was. His back wasn't bothering him any more. He had no idea what had happened or why, but he intended to run some tests on himself when he got home.

Since Tails had only an empty house to go home to, he didn't see any reason to call his place except to let Cosmo hear his new answering system. He started to punch in the number, then saw he had a message. He decided to play it back. Since he'd turned on the speaker so Cosmo could hear the message he'd recorded just for her, everyone heard as Rosemary Prower's voice filled the air.

"Hello, precious!" Tails jumped. Amy made a face. Cream's eyes grew big, remembering how she'd been yelled at before by that voice. Cosmo stared at the phone, listening carefully. "Sorry I missed you. I hope you're okay and not off fighting nasty old robots with that Parlouzer boy and his dreadful friends again!" Anita crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Tails winced and looked down at the floor. _Mom, why are you embarrassing me like this? "_Your father got into an argument with the hotel manager," the voice said next, "so we're coming home early. In fact, we should be back tonight. Won't that be lovely, dear? Hugs and kisses, Mummy!"

"Tonight?" Tails and Cosmo both cried, looking at each other.

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Tails quickly assured Cosmo.

"I hope so," Cosmo said, suddenly noticing she was twisted the new sweater she'd gotten. "Sorry. I-I'm a bit nervous about…about meeting your parents, Tails…"

"Please don't be," Tails begged her. "I'm certain they'll like you once they get to know you." He looked at the other girls. "R-right?"

"I'm…sure they will…" Cream said, suddenly fascinated by Amy's living room lamp.

"Well, sure," Amy added, patting Cosmo on the shoulder. "You're sweet and cute and lovable. Right, Anita?"

"Right," Anita said. "How could they not?"

Tails looked sadly at Cosmo. It was obvious from her downcast face that she hadn't believed a word any of them had just said.

And, knowing his parents the way he did, Tails didn't really believe it either…

To be continued…


	12. Chapter 12: The Calm Before The Storm?

AFTER THE METAREX

Chapter Twelve

"The Calm Before the Storm?"

"Tails?" Cosmo said softly. The fox hadn't moved for several minutes. "Tails…are you all right?"

"Huh?" Tails said. He shook his head. "Of…of course I am! I…" He placed a hand over his eyes. "I'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

"Tails…" Cosmo said softly, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe I should just…I mean…I don't want to get you into trouble…"

"Don't worry, Cosmo, everything's going to be fine," Tails assured her, patting her hand and giving her a thumbs up. He tried to smile. The result was he looked like he had gas.

Amy and Cream looked at each other. They'd seen that smile before, all too many times, on the fox over the last several months. Cream started to say something but Amy shook her head.

"Why don't you show Tails what you got today, Cosmo?" Amy suggested.

"What?" Cosmo asked. "Oh, Amy, Tails doesn't care about something like that now." She gave Amy an angry look, started to say something, then shook her head. No, it wasn't Amy's fault that the plant girl hadn't been with Tails all day that day. She obviously had wanted to spend some time with Cosmo too. But no one would object to Amy visiting Cosmo. Her time with Tails might be running out yet again. "I'm sorry, Amy."

"Huh?" the pink hedgehog said. "You didn't do anything."

"You're right, I'm sorry," Cosmo said again.

"Don't apologize so much," Amy demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "It's cute at first but it starts getting annoying after awhile."

"Amy, this really isn't the time to get mad at Cosmo," Cream said softly.

"I….I should go home and…and get everything ready for when they show up," Tails said, looking dazed. "They'll want me home when they get there anyway." He started towards the front door.

"I'm going with you," Cosmo said. "If I'm going to meet them I should get it over with."

"I'll go too," Amy said, suddenly hefting her hammer. "Just in case they don't want to listen to reason…"

"Amy, no!" Cosmo said, stepping in front of the hedgehog and holding up her hands as if to block the hammer. "That's not the way to make peace with someone! We're dealing with Tails' mom and dad, not _my_…" She stopped, turned away. She suddenly realized she had clenched her fists and quickly unclenched them. "I'm sure there's some way I can get them to accept me. If I have to, I suppose I could beg…"

"No way!" Tails cried, causing Cosmo to jump and everyone else to stare at him. "Sorry," he said, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but I don't want you begging. You don't deserve to have to do something like that. You're a great hero. And a princess."

"A princess of what?" Cosmo asked sadly, looking at the floor. "Princess of dead trees and rocks and mud puddles…"

"Please don't talk like that, Cosmo," Tails said. She had spoken in the same tone of voice when she'd insisted in the Snake Metarex caverns that she didn't deserve to touch a chaos emerald. He took her hands in his. "You're a very special person. And not just to me. We got through the Metarex. You got through your…leaving me…and now we'll get through this too."

Cosmo nodded then looked up into his eyes. "It's weird," she said. "Nothing should scare me after what I've been through, but the thought of meeting your parents makes my legs feel like rubber. Actually, even if I wasn't worried they might not like me, I think I'd be nervous."

"That's normal behavior," Amy pointed out. "You wouldn't know that since you've never been in love before."

"Yeah, you should have seen Amy when she first met Mom and Dad," Anita said. Amy waved to her to stop. The other hedgehog smiled and waved back. "She was so nervous, she called Mom 'Mr. Parlouzer' and Dad 'Mrs. Parlouzer.' Then she said she was so happy to finally meet 'family's Sonic' instead of 'Sonic's family…' Yeah, I see you, Amy. Hi there to you too! And then she said she was…mrphglx!" Amy had placed her hand over her mouth.

"Anita is such a kidder," Amy said, looking daggers at the younger erinaceinae. "Anyway, I'm sure Cosmo can win them over with time if she's polite and graceful and doesn't mind them pushing her around a little bit." Tails started to object but she waved him off. "Sometimes we have to make compromises," she pointed out. "I would like to jump on Sonic and hug him and kiss him every time I see him, for instance, but I've learned that if I do that he's just going to run away."

Anita dropped to her knees, freeing herself of Amy's hand. "I've watched Big Brother run from you a lot. It's kind of funny, really."

"No it's not!" Amy said, clenching her fists. "Why do you lie?"

"I think we've all seen Mister Sonic do that," Cream said. "But it doesn't happen that much any more," she added quickly as Amy turned to her. Cream grabbed Cheese and held him in front of her protectively. Amy had never hit her, but it never hurt to be careful.

Cosmo had started running her hand nervously through her hair. The result was that it now stood out in every direction like a lawn that badly needed to be mowed.

"Um…maybe I should get a brush and a comb for you, Cosmo…" Cream said.

Cosmo blinked. "What was that, Cream?"

"I'll be right back," the bunny called from around the corner of the room.

Cosmo stared after her a moment, then turned to Tails. "You know your parents better than anyone else, Tails," she said. "And you're certainly the smartest person around. So what do you suggest I do? How do I meet them? Do I smile? Look expressionless? Do I make eye contact or look down at my feet? Should I try to be witty or serious or…oh, who am I kidding? If I try to make a joke they'll probably think I'm weird." She turned to Amy and Anita. "Do I seem weird to either of you? What do I do with my hands when I meet them? Should I keep them behind my back, or would that look like I was hiding something?"

"First, take a deep breath," Amy said, leading Cosmo to the couch and making her sit down. She noticed Cream returning with a brush, comb, and small mirror. "Then, I want you to take a look at yourself."

Cosmo's eyes grew wide. "What? Why? What's wrong with the way I look?" she asked, starting to stand up. "Do I have food in my teeth?" Amy pushed her back down, then took the mirror from Cream and held it out to her.

Cosmo's eyes grew even wider. "Oh no!" she said, looking at her hair. She tried to push it down, but it popped back up again.

"It's okay, Cosmo," Tails assured her, crossing the room until he was standing behind the couch. "I have trouble with my hair too."

"But you're not trying to impress your folks," Amy pointed out. "You know, I really think you should have a makeover before you meet Tails' parents, Cosmo."

"But I like her fine the way she is!" Tails argued.

"We should take her to Bunny, she can give Cosmo a great new 'do," Amy said, her eyes already far away looking at things that only she could see. "Maybe a perm, and a manicure, and…"

"A perm?" Cosmo asked, really looking confused now. "I remember you saying you were thinking of getting one once on the Blue Typhoon, but I didn't want to seem ignorant, so I didn't ask you what it meant."

"It means they do something to your hair to make it really curly," Anita said, wrapping a lock of the plant girl's hair around her finger then releasing it. It immediately snapped back straight again. "I don't know if Cosmo's hair would respond well to one, Amy. It's too straight. It would be easier to try combing it, maybe over one eye…"

"Maybe we should put it up," Cream suggested, brushing Cosmo's hair. "Like Cinderella when she went to the ball."

"I said I like her fine the way she is!" Tails repeated.

"Oh, what do you know?" Amy demanded, glaring at him. "You're a man!"

"But I think Tails is right," Cosmo said, trying to get away from the three girls. Cosmo didn't like being the center of attention and being fussed over like this was making her uncomfortable. "And I really think we should be leaving for his house already. Tails wouldn't want them to get there first."

"Hopefully we have a few hours before they arrive," Tails said. "But I should clean up the house before they show up."

"And I'll be happy to help you," Cosmo offered.

"Me too!" Cream said. "My mom always feels happier when everything in her house is neat and tidy."

Tails and Amy looked at each other. Vanilla's house wasn't always neat and tidy?

"I think I'll just be moving along," Knuckles said from the doorway. "Next time you can get True Blue to be your pack mule. So long."

"Hmm…sounds good to me…" Amy said, smiling at Sonic. "What do you think, my darling Sonic?"

"I…whoa, look at the time…" Sonic said, backing away. "I really think I should be going…"

Amy stamped her foot. "Sonic! I thought we were over that kind of thing!" Her face twisted like she was going to cry.

"Sorry," Sonic said, no longer backing up but looking ready to make a run for it if he need to, "but I thought we were over you acting like that."

"Like what?" Cream asked, looking confused.

"Like she's going to catch him and lock him up in a cage?" Anita suggested with a grin.

"You're all so mean to me," Amy said, pouting.

Sonic sighed. Obviously old habits were dying hard for both of them. Besides, Sally was still on his mind a lot these days. "I really should be going," he insisted. "And I don't think you guys should stay with Tails and Cosmo much longer. They need at least a little time alone."

"What about you and me?" Amy asked. "You _are_ taking me to the masquerade on Valentine's day, right?"

"We'll see," Sonic said. "See you guys around." And then, like the wind, he was gone.

"He's taking you where on what day?" Cosmo asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Amy said dismissively. "You've already got somebody to take you."

"I really have to get moving, everybody," Tails said.

"Yes, let's go now," Cosmo agreed, holding her hand out. Tails took it and they walked outside together.

"Honestly," Amy said to Anita, who was starting to follow them. "If your brother was half as romantic as Tails he'd be normal!"

"Normal is boring," Anita said with a smirk. "I'd much rather be unique."

…

"Where did you see her last?" Merlin demanded. "Take me there."

The nurse led him across the facilities, muttering repeatedly that it wasn't her fault and she shouldn't be blamed for a patient being lost.

"Yes, yes, that's all very well and all but it doesn't help find her, does it?" Merlin asked as they entered the garden area. It was a cold day in winter, and no one else was outdoors. He looked around. There was no sign of the girl. There were a couple of bushes in one corner, not thick enough in winter to hide anyone. No, she couldn't be here. She had to still be inside. Where hadn't he looked? He decided to try the dining area and kitchen. Miles had enjoyed playing hide and go seek in the kitchen cupboards once, long long ago, before their lives had been torn upside-down by that mad human. It was worth a try.

"Why isn't the rest of the staff looking for her?" he suddenly demanded of the nurse.

"Do you have to talk so loud?" she asked, looking around nervously.

Merlin stopped and stared in disbelief at her. "Do I…what?"

"I could get in a lot of trouble here," she said, looking at the wall. "I haven't been here long, and losing a patient like this…"

Merlin left her without a word. Of all the insufferable…! Well, he'd see to it that someone in authority knew that a nurse was more concerned about her position than the people in her care. Blast it! Sometimes he forgot just how old he was. All those years he'd hiked all over the planet, exploring lost cities and uncharted wilderness. Now what would once be a leisurely little stroll while he was bored was putting him out of breath.

He pushed open the door to the kitchen. There was no one inside. Did the cook just wait until the last minute to run inside and open some cans? Despite his age, Merlin still retained a keen memory. He'd have a lot of complaints to file about this place.

The kitchen didn't seem all that clean. He noted a grease stain on the stove. That shouldn't have been allowed to harden. He started to look for a rag to clean it up, then stopped himself. He wasn't part of the staff. Why do their work for them?

He looked over the cupboards, then spoke in a loud, firm voice, "If you're in here, you may as well come out now. I assure you I can be extremely thorough when searching an area. Nothing escapes me."

No response. Merlin shut his eyes. Opening all of those cabinets would be tiresome. Fortunately, he knew a quicker way. He concentrated on what he wanted done, allowing the energy to slowly build. Then he opened his eyes and struck his cane on the floor. He muttered a phrase in an ancient language. With a series of crashes, every cupboard and drawer flew open, as well as the oven, refrigerator, and freezer doors, as well as the door he'd just passed through and the door to the pantry.

There she was! He could just make out her shoe amongst the cans of food. He walked over and tapped her foot with his cane. "Are you coming out, or shall I drag you out?"

Heather backed out of the cupboard, knocking several cans out as she did.

"What exactly did you think that was going to solve?" he demanded, dropping to his knees to put the cans back. There was a twinge in his back, but he ignored it.

"I don't know," she said dully, helping him to his feet. "I guess I just…I don't know…"

"We're not going to have a repeat of this, are we, young lady?" Merlin asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"Why should I bother?" she asked, face palming. "You're the only one that bothered to look for me, aren't you?"

"I was the first informed," he said. "Your nurse was extremely agitated."

"She's just scared for her job," Heather said, folding one pair of arms in front of her while placing the other two hands on her hips. "There's only one nurse here that's nice, and she's pretty much given up on me."

"And why do you suppose that might be, hmm?" Merlin asked. She turned away. He placed his hand under her chin and turned her head towards him. "Do be kind enough to look at me while I am speaking to you," he added.

Suddenly there was a loud crash. Merlin turned towards the sound. Someone could be heard yelling. That blasted rude orderly. And another voice. One he didn't know. "What in the world is that all about?"

Heather ran to the door and pushed it open. "The orderlies have some big guy they're dragging down the hall in a straitjacket. Oo, hear that? He just said he'd kill them."

Merlin pulled her back, allowing the door to swing shut. "I wasn't aware that violent cases were kept with the more peaceful patients."

"You don't pay that much attention, Gramps," Heather said. "They have stairs at the end of the hall past the rec room that lead down to the padded rooms. I spent some time there when I first came here because I kept biting people."

"But they shouldn't bring patients like that through here where sensitive people are," Merlin insisted. "It must be horrifying for them to see something like that."

"They're supposed to take them in through the back," Heather said with a shrug. "But that means going out of their way. You know Harry…"

"Yes, I know him all too well," Merlin said through gritted teeth. The bulldog was a bully and a coward. He'd met so many like him over the years. They loafed through life thinking they could always con what they needed from someone. Lonely women. Anyone smaller or weaker than they were. Probably got his job here by smiling to the head of administrations and, as Chuck would say, "giving him a nice big snow job."

Suddenly there was another crash and more yelling. Then the door to the kitchen flew open. The inmate, a rhino about a foot taller than Merlin, burst in. He looked around, like he was trying to find a way out, then noticed Heather. His eyes grew wide.

"Freak!" he yelled. "Monster! You're ugly! Ugly!" He started towards her, curling his thick fingers as if he intended to strangle her.

Merlin stepped in front of the girl, who had frozen at his comments. "Now see here, my good man," he said, keeping his voice calm and level, "there's no reason for that sort of talk. Why don't you just calm down and we can talk?"

The rhino glared at Merlin. The old fox raised his cane, wishing it was his old one. He could have put this giant down without any effort. Where were those blasted orderlies? Heads would roll. As the taller Mobian swung at him, Merlin dodged, falling back against the sink. Hopefully one of those heads wouldn't be his! He began to mutter under his breath as he was grabbed by the collar.

"Smash you good, old man!" the rhino yelled. Merlin struck him with his cane, sending an electrical current through it and into his attacker. The giant staggered, dropped the fox, but didn't go down. Despite the danger, Merlin could see the fellow wasn't in his right mind and hadn't wanted to injure him too badly. This proved to be a mistake as the ungulate knocked the cane from his hand and grabbed him in a bear hug.

Merlin shut his eyes and struggled to cast another spell. Unfortunately, the air was quickly forced out of his lungs, making it difficult for him to concentrate. He realized his back, in poor shape at best, would snap soon, probably paralyzing him for the rest of his life. If he survived…

Bwong! Merlin didn't know what that sound was, but the pressure being applied to his spine was suddenly weakened. He kicked the rhino's stomach and managed to free himself. Opening his eyes, he saw Heather holding a pot in her hand and the rhino clutching his head, then lowering it with a roar. He was clearly about to charge her. Merlin coughed and tried again to summon the power to stop him. Heather threw herself onto the stove then climbed onto the counter in front of the toaster. As he started towards her Merlin tossed something like looked like a glowing acorn. Electric current could be seen coursing through him as the "acorn" struck him and exploded. He fell to the floor just inches from the terrified girl, shaking violently. At that moment the kitchen door flew open and the orderlies poured into the room. One had a cut on his forehead. Harry stunned the patient with some sort of baton, ignoring Merlin's insistence that it was now unnecessary. "Stay out of this, you daffy old creep!" They dragged the rhino away, Harry seeming very proud of himself. Fine. Let him think he saved the day. It just wasn't worth the effort to argue with the likes of him. At least not while Merlin was still stuck in this place as a patient.

There was a clanging sound as Heather dropped the frying pan on the floor. Then she jumped down from the counter, threw her arms around Merlin, and started wailing.

"It's all right," he assured her, patting her on the head. "Please, not so tight. My back is killing me."

"Thank you…" Heather whispered, loosening her grip. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you…"

Merlin helped Heather back to the rec room just as the kitchen staff, looking stunned, came in and ordered them out. The girl collapsed onto the sofa. "I thought…I thought I'd passed the point when anything could scare me…" she said softly, looking at Merlin, who had sank down into an easy chair. "I thought nothing could make me cry again. You're disappointed in me, aren't you? Your nephew, Miles, he wouldn't be crying right now, would he?"

"Miles has gone through things even more terrible than you have, I fear," Merlin said softly. "I spent much of my life trying to make this a better world. But I never dealt with things like this before. If someone was insane my friends and I would put them away and go off celebrating, believing we'd saved the day and all was right with the world. I'm sorry. I never realized…"

"Welcome to the real world," Heather said dully. "But don't worry. I'm sure you'll be out of here soon. Then you won't have to worry about the likes of me anymore." He tried to assure her that he'd do the best he could to help her, but she just rolled over on the couch and refused to talk to him any further.

Merlin sighed, leaned back in the chair, shut his eyes. He soon fell asleep.

…

Tails and Cosmo had walked to Tails' house together. Amy, Cream, and Anita had followed them, but kept their distance to give them some time alone together.

Tails looked over at Cosmo as they walked. She looked tired. Maybe it was because of the crazy day they'd just had. Maybe it was worry. But Tails couldn't help but remember he'd found the plant girl somewhat run down that morning.

"Cosmo?" Tails said softly so that the others couldn't hear him. "Are you okay?"

"A little nervous," she admitted, rubbing her forehead. "Well, maybe a bit more than a little." She walked on in silence for a couple of minutes, then said, "Tails? If your parents don't like me…what should we do?"

"I'm sure they will," Tails assured her.

Cosmo shook her head. "Tails," she said seriously, "we promised we'd always be honest with each other. If you were sure they'd like me you wouldn't be looking as unhappy and as frightened as I feel."

Tails took a deep breath, letting it out loudly. "You're right," he admitted. "They don't make friends easily. And…"

"And what?" Cosmo asked, noticing the sudden worried look on his face. "What else should I know about them, Tails?"

"They've…had trouble with…aliens…before…" Tails admitted, hanging his head. "Female aliens."

Cosmo cringed. Then her eyes narrowed. "Tell me everything," she said seriously. "I need to know exactly what I'm up against."

Tails squeezed her hand gently. "Okay," he said softly. "I'll tell it to you exactly as they told it to me."

He sighed. "They…they were on this ship, just females…"

Cosmo moaned. "You're…joking…" she looked at his face. "You're not joking. I didn't think you were. What did these just female aliens do?"

"Well, Mom and Dad were captured by Eggman when I was four. He was going to roboticize them…a process that would have turned them into robots…" he explained when Cosmo looked confused. She winced. Because of the Metarex Cosmo hated robots and cyborgs and anything similar. "Dad transformed and Mom was starting to change when they were picked up by an alien ship." Tails made a face. "Yeah, it sounds horrible to me too. Anyway, the aliens had a device to reverse roboticization, but were forbidden to use it. This one alien had picked up what Mom and Dad were going through and decided to save them. She took them to her home planet where the high council decided she was a traitor for using the device and locked them all up. Apparently they'd once used it on a race of robot like beings and it killed them. They'd developed mechanical characteristics to protect themselves from germs in their atmosphere and the change to flesh and blood had left them helpless."

"Oh no!" Cosmo cried. "How horrible…remain a machine forever or die…" She covered her face with her hands. "No wonder Lucas went mad!"

Tails patted her on the back. "It's okay," he assured her. "Anyway, because a traitor had brought Mom and Dad to their planet, no one wanted to return them. So they were stuck there until Sonic and I ended up in a ship Eggman had made, hoping to send us out into space and never have to deal with us again. I managed to take control of it, and by luck we approached their planet. The council wasn't happy to see us and demanded we leave at once."

"Why didn't we run across them while we were fighting the Metarex?" Cosmo asked.

"We passed their planet at one point," Tails said. "It looked dead so I'm pretty sure they'd lost their planet egg. There were no Metarex around, though, so I decided they'd already left and there wasn't anything we could do for them if we couldn't get it back, so I just had the Blue Typhoon keep going. I…I didn't really want to help them anyway, after all the trouble they'd caused us."

"We both have a lot of anger to deal with," Cosmo said softly.

"Yeah," Tails admitted. "Anyway, Mom and Dad were furious about being trapped on their planet all those years and separated from their family."

"Especially their poor little boy who must have thought he'd never see them again," Cosmo said sadly, giving Tails a hug. "I'm so happy you got reunited with your family, Tails. Even if they decide they don't like me. Well, I can only be who and what I am. There's no point in pretending I'm a Mobian. I don't look enough like one."

"I wouldn't want you to try," Tails said, hugging her back.

"Um, Tails?" Amy said.

Tails sighed. So much for having a little time alone with Cosmo. Without looking at Amy he asked, "What is it?"

"You just passed your house," the pink hedgehog said, giggling.

…

_Red Pine…forestation was a failure. A serious error in judgment. The war has ended._

Red Pine leaped from his throne and looked about him. "Who's there?" he demanded. "Show yourself!" He reached slowly for his sword, a thin rapier roughly four feet in length, although capable of being expanded to double that at the push of a button. "You have made a serious error in judgment in coming here! I suggest you come out of hiding. Perhaps I will make your death relatively painless."

_Don't waste your effort, Pine…you would find killing me quite impossible…_

That voice! It couldn't be! "Commander?" Had he somehow survived? Faked his own death, like Pine had? Had he known Marcus was alive and remained in hiding all this time waiting to see how his last general would react when he thought he was alone? "I…am delighted to learn that you have survived…sir…"

_Are you, Pine? Are you really? It matters not…since I haven't…_

"What?" Red Pine said. "I do not understand your joke, commander."

_I fear the joke was on us. In attempting to gain revenge for injustices dealt against us, we lost sight of our true goals. Destroying our ancient enemy ceased to be enough for us. We had to destroy anyone we encountered, even those that might once have joined us. In the end, all we gained was oblivion…_

Red Pine had listened to Dark Oak's words many times in the past. This did not sound like the obsessed dictator who would destroy anyone that disagreed with him. Oak would never admit he was wrong. Someone imitating his voice then? Attempting to trick Pine, cause him to make a fatal error, now, when his plans were so close to fruition? No! He'd humor this imposter until he could find him, then deal effectively with the fraud.

"A few setbacks are no cause to give up," Pine said, looking about him. There was clearly no one here, so there had to be a mechanical device hidden somewhere that the faker was speaking through. Where was it?

_Looking for a transmitter, Pine? You won't find one. I have no need for such devices. _

"Indeed?" Red Pine said, checking under the nearby table. "That wasn't what you said when you planted one in your daughter's head."

_Another thing I curse myself for each day. She was already suffering so much, and I cruelly added to her pain simply because I saw her mother in her and still wished to punish her for turning against me. But what choice did she have? She saw what we had failed to see. What you still fail to see, Marcus. _

The voice sounded tired. Sad. And had called him Marcus. No, it wasn't at all like the supreme Metarex Commander Dark Oak. But it did sound like him. The Lucas he had known long ago, on their long dead world. A world Red Pine intended to bring to full life once again.

"You would justify the nuclear strike she ordered against us?" Marcus demanded, examining his throne. "The destruction of your final one hundred and eighty soldiers? When we finally had the power to defend ourselves against the cursed animals that had destroyed our forests and fields and streams, killed our women and children…"

_And yet that is precisely what we, ourselves, did, kill our women and children. _

"They were traitors!" Red Pine insisted, checking his sofa now. "They refused to serve us! Anyone not with us is against us!"

_And what did we gain for that horrendous action? Pale Bay Leaf, Black Narcissus, and Yellow Zelkova are dead. And you should have perished as well, Pine. __**He**__ saved you, didn't he?_

"And if he did, Commander?" Red Pine demanded. While he wasn't quite ready to say anything, Marcus had known there was something very strange about that experimental black hole opening up while he was too close to escape its gravitational pull. And he had so looked forward to his upcoming battle with the Warrior of the Light. What had happened, and why? Perhaps at last he would find out.

_Do you still trust him?_

"I have always been completely loyal to you, my…liege…" Yes, there was something very odd about Dark Oak. If he didn't know better, he'd think he was speaking with a ghost…

_Have you? Why was I not informed that I had a grandchild?_

Red Pine shrugged. "There was no reason to mention it until a child was actually born," he said, still looking for a bug. His voice didn't seem to be coming from inside the room or through a speaker. More like inside of his own head. Had Oak somehow planted one on him in the same mysterious way that he had planted one on his own daughter? No. If that were true, he would know everything. All of Pine's plans and schemes…

_Are you saying Andromeda was not born until after your apparent demise? _

"Does that astound you, Commander?" Pine asked.

Whatever response he may have received never came. His visitor suddenly cried out in pain.

"Commander?" he inquired. "Is something amiss?"

_We shall speak another time, Pine…_

Once he was certain the speaker was gone, Red Pine began to search the room furiously, tossing everything around onto the floor. Nothing. No communication device. He placed his hand on his head, over his right eye. No…_no_, it couldn't be…And yet…and yet…

He _knew_. Dark Oak had known that Red Pine had played the good soldier, appeared to be the most loyal, while planning to take over. Yet Oak had made no threat just now, no effort to punish him. What was his game? He had much to think about. Oak knew Pink Andromeda existed, but not that her seed had been pollinated and planted only after the death of Galaxina.

Or did he know, and just wanted Pine to admit it? Was it possible he knew _everything_?

He started to call Willow over a loudspeaker, order her to hurry the plan along. But Oak might be listening to everything he was doing, watching his every move. He'd tell her in person. Dark Oak might still be seeing and hearing it all, but there was little he could do if his old commander was reading his mind. He hurried off to search for the Metarex secretary.

…

"I think I'll make some tea," Cream said once they were inside of Tails' house. It was obvious both Tails and Cosmo would need some. She looked through Tails' kitchen. Tsk. He still hadn't gone to the market. That would be bad when his parents showed up. They'd think he was starving himself. Leftover popcorn and cheese puffs and soda from their party yesterday was not what parents liked seeing their children eating. Fortunately, there was a little place not far away that was hidden from mechanical eyes. At least it hadn't been attacked yet. She stepped back into the living room and quickly explained the situation. Tails face palmed.

"I can't believe I forgot to get food today!" he said.

"It's okay, Tails," Cosmo assured him. "This has been a very hectic day for everyone. You can't expect to remember everything while we're being attacked." She got down on her knees and placed the bags containing the items she'd gotten under Tails' coffee table. Suddenly the things that had looked so pretty in the stores didn't seem to matter much to her. She placed her hand over her mouth to cover a yawn. She didn't want him worrying about her again. "Where do we go to get food?"

"You don't," Cream said. "At least not today. You need to spend as much time as you can with Tails." She looked at Amy and Anita. "And I'm sure the rest of us can take care of it, right, girls?"

"Sure," Amy said. "We won't be long." She looked over at Tails and grinned. "Now don't do anything I wouldn't do…"

Tails colored. He somehow doubted there was very much Amy wouldn't do. Not that he was exactly sure what that might be.

Cosmo had sat down on his couch. She looked at him but didn't say anything. Was she waiting for him to speak first? Tails struggled to think of something clever, or at least not banal to say. He didn't know how long they'd have together.

"So, besides Eggman's attack, how did you like today?" he asked her, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

"It was very nice being with Amy and Cream again without having to worry about when the next battle was coming," she said. "Oh, and you of course." She took one of the pillows on the couch and laid her head against it. "Your pillows feel very nice," she said, then quickly sat up. After such a long and crazy day, she was glad to be sitting down and would have liked to shut her eyes for just little while. But that would worry him and she didn't want that happening again. "Everything in your home seems very nice," She added. She started to say that she'd really enjoy every minute she spent in his house, but then remembered that she had no guarantee she'd be welcome here after today.

"Uh, thanks," Tails said. "You can take one with you if you like."

Cosmo blinked. One what? Oh, right. The pillow. "No, I think it should stay with the couch and the other two pillows," she said softly. Oh dear, that sounded dumb, didn't it?

"Huh?" Tails said. "Oh, okay. So…I was wondering how I should tell them about you."

"Well," Cosmo said, "After thinking about it, I'm afraid it would probably be a mistake for me see them right away. They'll probably be tired after their long trip and will want some time to relax before meeting a stranger."

"You're right," Tails agreed, surprised he hadn't thought of that himself. His mother would hit him with a barrage of questions about how he was and his father would probably want to complain about the waiters and busboys and everyone else that had annoyed him. And then there was his sister. His mother hadn't mentioned bringing her with them. Whatever had happened, they'd want to keep it private. In the family. While he already considered Cosmo part of his family, it would take a lot of work to get them to see things his way. "I'll talk to them about you once they've settled in a little, and ask them if they'd like to meet you. Most likely Mom will want to see you first."

"Tell me what they're like, Tails," Cosmo asked, sitting up both because she was interested and because if she allowed herself to sink into his couch much longer she might fall asleep.

"Well, Mom is very concerned about how other people see her and the rest of the family," Tails admitted.

"Then she won't be happy her son is seeing someone that doesn't fit in with regular people," Cosmo said softly. She rubbed her right shoulder. Amy had been tugging her around all day by that arm.

"It's okay though," Tails assured her. "She's bound to be impressed that your mother was someone important among your people."

"That's my mother, not me," Cosmo said. "I never thought of myself as being special." She laced her fingers together as she often did when she was thinking or listening to someone. "Everyone on the ship had assignments to carry out, and I completed mine to the best of my abilities. What about your father?"

Tails sighed. "Well, he'll probably want to tell you one of his old war stories."

Cosmo made a face. "Oh dear," she said. "Just the sort of thing I really don't like hearing. But I'll do my best to look interested." She sighed. "Why does he like to talk about the battles he was in? I'd like to forget my own war experiences."

Tails nodded. "So would I," he agreed. "but Dad seems to like reminiscing about his triumphs. I guess they make him feel important."

Cosmo shook her head. "I will never understand that mentality!" she said. "I'm sorry, Tails. I know he's your father, but…I hate war. And violence."

"I don't like it either," Tails assured her, reaching across the couch to pat her on the shoulder. "It's okay, Cosmo. I understand." She looked at his hand on her shoulder, then looked into his eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back. Tails reached out to touch her hair. It was so soft and she smelled so nice and…

"Woo! Did we just walk in on something?" They both jumped at the sound of Amy's voice. Tails threw himself against the other side of the couch. Darn that Amy!

"Don't get up, we can put everything away," Cream said as Cosmo started to get up to help them.

"Yeah," Amy said, going into the kitchen. "Continue smooching!"

"Amy!" Cream hissed, shaking her head as she followed the pink hedgehog. Anita brought up the rear. In no time, the three girls had put everything away, then returned to the living room.

"We decided you should come back with us and spend the night at Cream's house," Amy said. "Tails' parents won't be in a good mood when they first get in."

"Tails and I were just discussing the same thing," Cosmo said. "But I'd like to spend a little more time here with Tails before I go."

"Oo, kissie kissie," Amy said, puckering up her lips.

"Stop that!" Tails cried.

"Have you decided what you're going to say when you do meet them, Cosmo?" Cream asked.

Cosmo shook her head. "I've been thinking about it a lot," she admitted, "but I just get myself more confused."

"That's why you have friends," Anita said, "to brainstorm ideas with."

"Yeah," Amy said. "Don't worry, we'll help you figure out exactly what to say to melt Tails' parents' cold, cold hearts, and win your one true love."

Tails rolled his eyes. There she went again. And they didn't have time to hear one of Amy's romantic fantasies.

"I'm afraid I don't know much about love," Cream admitted. "So Cheese and I will tidy things up a bit around here while the rest of you talk. Come on, Cheese."

Cosmo looked after the bunny girl, a pained expression on her face. She hoped Cream found someone very nice that would make her feel very special. As special as Tails made her feel.

…

Eddie walked through the woods, Merlin's staff in his hand. It was weird. Just a piece of wood, but it somehow felt warm, like it had been left out in the sun all day and absorbed a lot of heat. Only problem was there wasn't much of a sun that day, and it was quite cold. But then Eddie was used to the cold and the rain and the snow. Had been ever since he'd lost his home in one of Eggman's attacks long ago. Sure, that blue hedgehog Sonic had stopped the robot before anyone had gotten killed that day, but it hadn't help Eddie, or the other suddenly homeless Mobians, find food, warmth, or shelter. No, the Blue Blur wouldn't find many fans amongst the people Eddie associated with. And the king hadn't exactly rushed to his dispossessed subjects' aid either.

Eddie finally felt a bit of warmth up ahead as he approached a bridge that was no longer being used to transport anything. The part overhead was badly pitted and would be a hazard to anyone driving. Not that he or the people he knew had any reason to be driving. Or any vehicles to drive for that matter. A few extra support beams set up by a couple of folks with some engineering knowledge, and the underside made a fair home for the homeless. Several Mobians stood around a large metal container that had a fire burning in it. A female hedgehog was stirring a pot held by a spit over a smaller burning container. Eddie set the cane and a bag containing the other items he had chosen to scavenge against a beam and walked to the container, pulling off his torn gloves and holding his hands over the fire to get warm. A shiver went down his spine and he shook a little.

"Cold one today, ain't it, Eddie?" a beaver asked. "Be glad when this blasted winter is over."

"I hear you, Tom," Eddie said. "How are the wife and kids?"

"Elsie still has that cough," Tom said sadly. "If it doesn't get any better soon, I'm going to have to take her to town. I don't know how I'm going to pay for a doctor, but I got to do something."

"Give me a bit to get warmed up, and I'll see if I can get her some medicine," Eddie offered. "There's an institute not far from here."

"Regular over the counter stuff isn't doing her much good," Tom said, tossing a few twigs onto the fire. "She needs some prescription stuff."

"No problem," Eddie insisted. He'd taken stuff from that clinic before. Not very well run, and the only worker there he wasn't sure he could handle was a big stupid bulldog. "I can be back by nightfall."

"I don't know what we'd do without you, Eddie," the female groundhog said, tasting her stew. "Mm…needs another carrot and maybe some broccoli." She walked gingerly towards a pile of bags, all of her life possessions, and started looking through them. "Now let's see…I know I had some somewhere…"

Eddie sighed. The trip to Happy Acres was longer than he liked to travel in this cold and wind, but at least his new walking stick should help his trek across the snow. Well, maybe he'd have a bit of that stew before he left. Warm himself on the inside as well as the outside.

…

"Are you all right, Tails?" Cosmo asked him, noticing that he was rubbing his head. Amy and Anita had made a number of suggestions, everything from Cosmo dressing like a school marm to agreeing with anything his parents said no matter how stupid it sounded to just crying a lot when she saw them. None were very helpful and Cosmo had just nodded and said things like "I'll think about it, thank you," and "I'll take that under careful consideration."

"Just a bit of a headache," Tails assured her. "I'll be okay."

"Your head is spinning, isn't it?" she asked him, gently moving his hand aside so that she could rub his forehead. "I know how you feel. I felt like that when I found myself in Heaven…"

"Whoa, time out!" Amy said, making a "T" with her hands. "First off, do _not_ mention you went to Heaven to Tails' parents. That's a big no-no, Cos."

"Sorry," Cosmo said, shaking her head. "I just keep finding myself mentioning it without thinking about it. I suppose because it was so nice there."

"They already know she was dead," Anita pointed out, trying on a new pair of gloves she'd just bought. "No matter how he says, 'Oh, Mom, Dad, guess what! Remember that girl, Cosmo, I told you about who died last year? Well, she's alive again!' they're still going to get freaked out about it!"

Amy placed her elbow on her knee and her rested her chin in her hand. "You're right," she admitted. "Okay, we need to come up with something there that doesn't sound too weird…"

"I'll just tell them…" Tails blinked. So much for his three hundred IQ. His brain felt like it was full of soggy oatmeal.

"Didn't you put up security cameras in your greenhouse?" Anita asked. "Do you have a tape of her coming back from that plant?"

Tails facepalmed. "Of course!" he said. "It never even occurred to me. I'd view it speeded up once in awhile, slowing the film to normal only if I noticed something out of the ordinary, then erase the film, but I haven't looked at it for a couple of days." Actually, he had kept quite a few days of tape in the beginning. But since nothing ever happened he had finally convinced himself it was a waste of tape that could be reused, and not good to keep countless hours of a flower not doing anything. At least not on the surface. He still found it hard to believe what had been going on inside of that flower. Cosmo was so different from Mobian girls. What other differences were there? And did he really want to find out?

"If you haven't touched it then Cosmo's return should be on the tape," Cream said, having returned from tidying up Tails' house. Tails made a mental note to do something nice for her. She wasn't saying anything but she was probably hurting right now.

"Oh dear," Cosmo said, coloring.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked. "You didn't find the tape and press the wrong button, making it fly out of the camera and expose it to sunlight or something, did you?"

"What? Oh no, no!" Cosmo said shaking her head. "It's just…when I freed myself of my flower, I fell out onto the mud beneath me, and laid there for awhile crying. Because I broke my navel cord to get free, and it really hurt." She smiled sadly. "Silly of me, wasn't it? After all I'd been through, sobbing because I hurt my belly button." She leaned her head on her hand. "Forget I mentioned it, okay?" Now that she thought about it, she must have looked really stupid.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you then!" Tails said, shuddering at the thought of her laying there crying while he prepared for a party.

"Oh no, no, don't feel bad about that," Cosmo said quickly. "I needed to compose myself and try to look halfway presentable before you saw me. I really don't think showing them that tape would be a good idea."

"You're probably right," Tails agreed. Seeing her climb out of a flower would probably just freak them out. He wasn't sure how that made him feel either.

Amy nodded. "You probably had bed hair and your eyes were probably half shut like this, and you were yawning like this" she said, half closing her eyes and yawning. "Like you just woke up in the morning and hadn't had your first cup of coffee yet."

"Um…I don't drink coffee…" Cosmo said, "but…well…I'm sure I looked a fright…"

"I wouldn't have cared if you looked a fright," Tails promised her. He sputtered. "I mean…you couldn't possibly have looked that bad! I mean…"

"I know," she said, running her fingers through the locks of hair that insisted on standing up on his head. "But the first time you saw me again, I wanted you to see me happy and reasonably neat, not looking like I'd just fallen into a lake or gotten out of Amy's plane after she'd done some stunt flying or something. Uh…sorry, Amy…"

"That's okay," Amy said. "You always did have a problem with motion sickness, didn't you? That when your eyes started spinning around and around when we were following Sonic and Knuckles just before that black hole showed up. And then there was that one planet where you climbed out of my plane, staggered over to a large bush, and started barfing."

Cosmo colored again. "I really wish you hadn't reminded me of _that_, Amy…"

"Hey," Tails said, putting his arm around her. "It's okay. You weren't used to something like that. I got sick too the first time I was in the old Tornado. And Amy was trying to keep up with Sonic those times, and you know how he likes to move."

"Of course I was," Amy said, blowing on her fist and rubbing it against the front of her dress. "There's nothing a woman in love won't do to help out her man."

"No, there isn't," Cosmo agreed, laying her head against Tails' shoulder.

…

Colin walked slowly through Thorndyke Industries. This wouldn't be easy without that brat's okay, but Chris Thorndyke had made it quite clear that he wasn't going to allow that space capsule to be carefully examined. Sentiment wouldn't get either of them through the dimensional gateway from Earth to this Mobius, only cold, hard facts.

It still didn't make sense to Colin why the brat wanted to go back there. Colin had a lousy job and no real prospects for the future, unless he was so foolish as to try something stupid like robbing a bank. Which was almost certain to backfire very badly on him. He was short, bald, and, he had to admit, not exactly movie star material. But Chris Thorndyke was rich, young, tall, with a full head of hair and a beautiful blonde girlfriend. What the devil did someone like him want to leave Earth for?

Colin stopped as he approached the room, known to only a few top employees, containing the capsule. It wouldn't be easy to get in there. Only the kid and the old man knew the code. But Colin had always loved puzzles. When other children on his block had gone trick-or-treating as Batman he had dressed up as the Riddler. Frank Gorshin of course.

Finally reaching the sealed room where his uncle's capsule was kept in storage, Colin looked at the computerized lock. Attempting to pick the lock would be extremely difficult. Too large a possibility that it would set off alarms all over the building. The best way to open the door was to use the password. The problem there, of course, was figuring out what it was. Even as obsessed as he appeared to be with that hedgehog, Thorndyke wouldn't be dumb enough to use "SONIC" as the password. Still, he tried it anyway. After all, hadn't Grandpa Gerald used Maria's name?

The door rejected the password. Okay, so the twerp wasn't a total moron. He tried Helen. Again no dice. Maybe Grandpa Gerald's Ultimate Life Form? Thorndyke had gone on and on about him as well. No! What else to try? Maybe that weird talking plant thingy he said croaked saving them from the alien cyborgs. Still no luck!

Most likely it was a word or two that would trigger a fond memory of the past when the blue alien was on Earth. Blast it! That meant talking to him again, possibly at some length. Getting him to ramble on and on about "the good old days with Sonic and his friends that I miss so much!" Yeesh! _You sent him back to get him to shut up, didn't you, Uncle? Yes, I don't blame you. _

Colin sighed as he worked on erasing the recent activity on the door. Maybe he couldn't get it to open without the password, but he could at least get it to "forget" someone had tried to get in. He turned and looked up at the security camera. It was staring right at him. No point in dealing with it, he needed to get to security and delete it showing him at the door before someone saw the tape. Hopefully whoever was on guard duty was asleep at the switch and hadn't been paying attention. If it was Doug, no problem. If it was Herb…well, he could be bribed. Fred…he'd be a problem. But a smart man digging deep enough could probably find something to blackmail most folks.

…

"Guys," Tails said slowly as he realized everyone was watching him and Cosmo together. "Do you think you can kind of leave us alone now?" He cringed as he realized that was very close to what he'd said just before he had…No! No, he wasn't going to allow himself to dwell on that anymore! Even if they were separated by his parents, Cosmo wasn't dead. She was alive and well and he'd spend every minute he could making her happy, even if he could only see her clandestinely. He didn't like the idea of hiding something that big from his parents, but if they forced him to, he would.

"It's gonna be okay," Amy assured him, giving the fox a hug. "Remember, you've both gotten through worse than this. And you two are not alone. If worse comes to worse, we can run interference for you two so you can see each other."

"I seriously hope that won't be necessary, Amy," Cosmo said, sinking down into Tails' couch after giving each of the girls a hug and promising to join them soon. She pulled off her shoes and started to put her feet up on the sofa, then stopped. If she suddenly laid down he really would be worried. She placed her hand over her mouth to cover a yawn. She felt guilty, yawning and wanting to sleep when she should be concerned about whether she was about to lose Tails again, but his couch was so comfortable. She shut her eyes and laid her head against the arm of the sofa.

"Cosmo?" Tails' voice came from what seemed like far away. "Are you okay?" He sounded so concerned. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He was standing at the side of the couch, looking down at her.

"I'm all right," she assured him, sitting up. "Just a little tired, that's all."

Tails felt a lump in his throat. He knew it! All of this was too much for her so soon! His first thought was to pick her up and carry her back to the sick bay on the Blue Typhoon. But that would just scare her. And probably make her think he'd lost it. "Why don't you lie down and rest awhile?" he suggested.

Cosmo started to get up. "I don't want to be a burden…" she began. She facepalmed. "I'm still doing it, aren't I?" she asked. "Sorry." She shook her head. "Now I'm apologizing again. Sorry. I mean…"

"It's okay," Tails assured her. "Go ahead and lie down. I'll get you a pillow. Please, Cosmo," he added when he saw that she seemed uncertain. "You've been though a lot your first day home."

Cosmo started to say something, but Tails had already hurried out of the room. "Home." This world wasn't Cosmo's home. Her home was a ship long destroyed. But maybe it could become her home. Maybe, one day, this house could…

Cosmo covered another yawn then stretched out on the couch. She had to admit, it did feel good to lie down. She hoped she got over feeling run down soon. She didn't like feeling useless.

"Lift your head a little," she heard. She opened her eyes and sat up so that Tails could lay the pillow where she had been resting her head. She yawned again then lowered her head to the pillow.

"Thank you, Tails," she said, smiling up at him. "You're so good to me. I promise, as soon as I'm up to it, I'll do my best to return the favor."

"Just knowing you're here and well and happy is all I need," Tails assured her, covering her with a pink blanket. He'd given up trying to convince his mother that boys didn't use pink, but on Cosmo it looked very cute.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Cosmo said, shutting her eyes. "My capsule landed in the absolutely best possible place. Right where my handsome prince could find me."

Tails felt his face grow warm. "I'd hardly call myself that," he said modestly. "But I'm glad I was out there that night. I saw an angel fall from Heaven."

Cosmo smiled. "I'm no angel," she said without opening her eyes. "In fact, I chose not to be one. I'm just a girl who wants a normal, ordinary life. Is that too much to ask for?"

"No," Tails said softly. He had sat down on the floor in front of the couch. "That's not too much to ask for at all. And I'll do my best to give you what you want, Cosmo."

Cosmo suddenly opened her eyes. "Tails?" she said, looking afraid. "What if-what if your parents come home and find me here? Maybe I should go to Cream's mother's house. I don't want to get you in trouble."

"Shh," Tails hissed, stroking her hair. "It's okay, Cosmo. Get some rest. I'll wake you if they show up while you're here. Just stay with me a little longer, okay?"

Cosmo shut her eyes again. "Okay," she agreed. "I'm sorry, Tails. Maybe…maybe we shouldn't have told anyone about me until after we got your mother's call. I wanted…I wanted us to have at least one special day together, just the two of us."

"Yeah, me too," Tails said, nodding even though he knew she couldn't see it with her eyes closed. "That Amy…and then Eggman…!"

"Please don't be angry with Amy," Cosmo begged, patting the hand he was still stroking her hair with. "She meant well. Eggman…he's always been a problem, hasn't he?"

"Yes, he has," Tails said, his voice suddenly growing cold. Hard. "He's hurt so many people so many times. He joined up with the Metarex. He made a…" He stopped.

"You're thinking of the robot he made that looked like me," Cosmo said, squeezing his hand gently. "Don't let what he did in the past affect your future, Tails. _Our_ future. I was so angry and bitter on your ship I couldn't fully enjoy the good times we had together. That party the Chaotix nearly ruined, trying to set us up." She laughed. "I can't believe now that I had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Why Knuckles was acting so strangely. I assumed he knew I was unhappy and tried to make me laugh. It seemed very weird, but I laughed because I wanted him to feel he'd done a good job of cheering me up. All that crazy stuff that happened back then…we had fun, huh?"

"Yeah, we sure did," Tails said, trying not to remember the last time she'd said that. "But the best is yet to come. I swear it."

"So much would happen all at once sometimes," Cosmo said, yawning again. "Sometimes my head was going around and around from how much would take place in one day. I'd just started getting used to all of you, how different you were from my people, and then Chris showed up, and he was even less like us. And then later Doctor Eggman. And other peoples from all over the galaxy. The Marmolimians…and the people on Zecco, and…so many…many more…I…"

Tails realized she'd fallen asleep. Poor thing. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, careful not to wake her. It wasn't fair! She'd gone through so much since the Metarex had attacked her ship. And who knew what had happened to her during those months she was…they were separated. And she'd just finally come back. Just started to put her life back together. They were just starting to talk about a future he'd long feared was never to be. And then Eggman showed up, making things difficult for her on her first full day back with him! Tails took a deep breath then pushed away the anger he felt. There'd be time enough to think about Eggman and what he'd done. What should be done with the doctor. Right now it was far more important to think about Cosmo. He continued to run his fingers through her hair for awhile. She'd insisted she wasn't an angel, but she sure did look like one. _My angel…I got you back. This should be a time of celebration, not worry. Mom and Dad have to understand what you mean to me! I…I have to show them I'm over all the moping around and crying and everything I've put them through. I have to cheer up and greet them with a smile. Make them know how happy I am now that you're with me again. They're bound to see your presence is a good influence on me, right? _

Tails finally got up and walked across the living room. There was one thing he needed to do that he knew they'd approve of completely. He stopped in front of the door to Cosmo's shrine and took a deep breath. _She's here, _he reminded himself. _You don't need this anymore. You have __**her**__._

Tails opened the door and looked around. Yes, everyone was right. This _was_ unhealthy. He turned and hurried to his workshop. He had some boxes in there. He could put everything away in them. He worked fast, not wanting to give the memories time to hit him in the face again, then moved the boxes to his workshop. He'd worry about what to do with everything later. He went back to the room. Bit back tears. It looked so empty, so bare without her mementoes. No! No, he was not going to cry. He'd paint the walls and ceiling, put in carpeting, change it completely so it no longer resembled the room he'd spent so many hours sobbing on the floor in.

It took him awhile to compose himself. Once he did he soon found himself yawning. All that walking and carrying and waiting at the mall, plus being trampled on, and that odd pain in his back that was now just a dull ache, and the battle with Eggman, and now taking down everything he'd depended on for such a long, long time, had gotten to him. Well, he was sure he had time for a nap before his parents showed up. He kissed Cosmo's cheek, then laid down on the rug in front of the couch and shut his eyes. He was soon fast asleep.

…

Bokkun crept towards Eggman's headquarters. He realized his knees were shaking. "Hey! Knock it off, you guys!" he hissed. "I'm nervous enough already!" He realized he was already being monitored, and put his hand over his mouth to stop talking. Although he couldn't see the cameras, he had no doubt they were there. After all, hadn't he been the one that had set them up? Back when the Doctor still trusted him? Not anymore, though. Too many things had happened that he wouldn't be able to justify if the fat guy demanded answers. Too late, he realized he should have gone back and stolen something. Returning empty handed was just going to make him look all the more suspicious.

_Just don't volunteer anything, _he told himself. _Play dumb. Yeah, that's the ticket! I pigged out at the food court and tossed the food I didn't want at the windows. _His stomach growled. _Shut up, you! You can't be hungry! You'll ruin my alibi! _

His password still worked. Either that meant Eggman wasn't on to him, or the boss wanted to confront him. Darn it! Cosmo would have hidden like he'd asked if it hadn't been for that dumb fox! She may be kind of whiny and boring, but she'd acted like she was actually listening to him.

_Okay…now how do I explain to tubby why Cosmo came back? _He took a deep breath and knocked on the door to the Doctor's main lab. It slid open without a sound. He swallowed hard as he stepped inside. The door slid shut behind him. Whatever happened now, there was no where for him to run, no place for him to hide.

"Well, well, Bokkun," the Doctor said from his chair without turning around. "Back are we? And how was your day?"

"Uh…great, Boss," Bokkun said nervously. Eggman was being much too nice. He liked the old guy better when he ranted and raved and jumped up and down in a fury. Happy Eggman was too unpredictable. "I was gonna steal some stuff from the mall, but everything looked kind of cheap. So I tossed an ice cream maker on the floor of this one store and you should have seen the mess that made! Then I tossed some spaghetti and meat balls around the food court, and then I got a football from the toy store and I broke a window with it, and then…"

"Yes, yes, that's all very interesting, Bokkun," Eggman said, just as the messenger robot was really getting into his spiel. He still hadn't turned around. This was definitely bad. "You of course noticed the most interesting thing that happened at the mall, didn't you?"

"Uh…most interesting thing?" Bokkun repeated. _Play dumb, dummy! _"You mean when that big knucklehead Knuckles kept getting frozen? Yeah, that was a riot, Boss!"

"It _was_ humorous," Eggman agreed, lacing his fingers together in front of him. "But not what I was talking about. Didn't you notice something…strange, Bokkun?"

"Uh…Tails didn't do much flying today?" Bokkun asked, his mind racing wildly. There was no longer any doubt about it. Eggman was toying with him. Making him squirm like a fish on the end of a line before he reeled him in and gutted him. Bokkun cringed. He never should have watched that nature show…

"Did you ever notice that our enemies are quite a…colorful bunch?" Eggman asked. "I don't mean personality wise, I mean literally. That blasted hedgehog is blue, his crazed fan girl is pink, the echidna is red, the twerp is yellow, and the rabbit and that new troublemaker, Sonic's sister, are orange."

"Yeah," Bokkun said. "They kind of look like a rainbow when they stand together, don't they, Boss?" Where was this odd train of thought going? Since when was the Boss interested in color coordination?

"You know what's usually missing from their little group?" Eggman demanded, leaning back in his chair.

What was miss…that was it. "Uh…purple?" Bokkun asked nervously, knowing that wasn't what the fat man was talking about.

"Purple and what else, Bokkun?" Eggman demanded, finally turning around. He did not look happy.

"Uh…silver?" Bokkun asked. "Gold? Copper? Burnt sienna?"

"Green, Bokkun," Eggman said in a much too quiet voice. "They usually don't have a green member of their group. But they did today. Isn't that fascinating?"

"Uh…yeah, that was weird, wasn't it?" Bokkun said, sweating like crazy now. "Boy, you could have knocked me over with a feather when that green alien plant thingy suddenly showed up, Boss!"

"Oh, I can think of quite a few things I'd rather try knocking you over with, Bokkun," Eggman said, leaning forward. "Where do you think she came from?"

"Uh…stork brought her?" Bokkun asked.

Eggman ran his hand over his bald scalp. Where had that luxurious head of flaming red hair gone over the years? "You really are an imbecile, aren't you?" he demanded. "Do you remember what I told you to do a few months ago?"

Bokkun blinked. "Uh…I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast this morning, Boss," he said, only slightly exaggerating.

"I told you to get me something very important," Eggman said, his voice soft and quiet. Bokkun struggled not to shake with terror. He really missed having the guy angry and ranting at him. He tended to make mistakes and sometimes forget what he was talking about when he threw a fit. But this…the Doctor didn't behave like this too often, but when he did, it was always very, very bad.

"Uh…I've fetched you a lot of things over the years, boss…" Bokkun pointed out, trying to stall as long as possible. What was Eggman going to do to him?

"Ah, but this was an extremely special item," Eggman pointed out, standing up and starting to pace the floor. "Something in a small pot. Coming back to you now?"

"Uh…your favorite dish?" Bokkun said lamely, his brain refusing to provide him with anything clever to say when he needed it the most.

The Doctor moved with a speed that belied his girth, grabbing the little messenger robot by one horn and lifting him up to eye level. "A plant, Bokkun! Containing a fantastically important seed I wanted to examine. Cosmo's seed. Which supposedly was destroyed when Shadow wrecked my last headquarters."

"Uh…uh…I guess…Tails must have thought we'd try something like that, and put a fake plant out for me to find?" Bokkun said, shaking like gelatine in a hurricane. Yeah, that sounded good. "He sure put one over on me, didn't he, Boss? Too bad you didn't go yourself! You would have seen right through that ruse, wouldn't you? Ha ha ha!"

Eggman seemed to consider this a moment, then dropped Bokkun unto the floor. He turned away, lacing his fingers together, except for his index fingers, which he tapped together as he spoke. "That fox _has_ always been trouble…shutting off force fields, defusing bombs, figuring out passwords…Yes, I should have known better than to expect a moron like you to match wits with him..."

It hurt Bokkun's pride to be insulted that way. Sure, maybe he wasn't a super genius, but didn't he deserve better treatment than this after all the times he'd served his master faithfully? But if Eggman thinking he was stupid got him out of this mess, he'd bite his tongue and say nothing. Right now he needed a distraction. Bocoe or Decoe to come in and trip over the furniture. Sonic to pay Eggman a surprise visit. _Something!_

At that moment the alarms went off. Eggman rushed to his control panel and pressed several buttons.

"Someone has broken through the perimeters of my base!" the big man yelled, turning a couple of dials to get his cameras to pick up exactly what it was. One stopped on E-123, codenamed Omega, just as the machine suddenly fell to the floor with a mighty crash.

_**That'll**__ do! _Bokkun thought, sighing with relief.

…

Tails vaguely heard a faint knocking sound. Without opening his eyes, he rolled over, trying to ignore it and go back to sleep. Didn't whoever it was know that night time wasn't for making noise? Night time was for sleep. Then he heard his father call, "Miles, are you awake? Your mother can't find her key! Let us in!"

Tails bounded awake. Oh no! They were here, and…he looked over at the still figure snuggled up on his couch.

…and so was Cosmo…

To be continued…

…

I know, I'm horribly late with this chapter, and much of it is about other characters besides Tails and Cosmo. I hope to both update much more often and devote more of each chapter to the stars. Wish me luck.


	13. Chapter 13: Pleading Their Case

AFTER THE METAREX: TAILS' AND COSMO'S STORY

Chapter Thirteen

"Pleading Their Case"

"Cosmo!" Tails hissed, nudging her gently. He hated disturbing her. She looked so comfortable. But his parents couldn't find them in his house alone together! Darn it! Why had he asked the others to leave them alone? The knocking continued. "Cosmo, wake up! My parents are here!"

Cosmo leaped up, her left foot tangled in the blanket Tails had given her. Her arms flailed out wildly, trying to grab onto something to break her fall. This proved to be Tails. They fell to the floor with a thud. As they struggled to get up, they became more and more tangled up in the blanket.

"Wait," Tails said, spitting Cosmo's hair out of his mouth. "Try moving your arm that way. No, the other arm…" Cosmo's elbow was now flattening his nose.

"I'm sorry, Tails," Cosmo moaned, pulling her elbow out of his face. "I guess I can't do anything right." He started to reassure her that that wasn't true. The knocking grew louder. She turned towards the door. "Oh! They can't find us like this!" She tried to run. Unfortunately her left foot was still wrapped up in the blanket. And now so was Tails' right foot. Down they both went again.

"Okay, just calm down and let me untangle you," Tails said, rubbing his chin. Cosmo had accidentally kicked it as they fell. "Just a minute!" Tails called loudly.

They finally managed to untangle themselves. Cosmo grabbed her shoes. "I'll hide and sneak away when they go to bed," she hissed, hurrying from the room. She only tripped on the blanket she was trailing behind her once. "I'm okay!" she called, as he started over to help her up. She pulled the blanket to her and disappeared out of sight. A moment later he heard a door close loudly. "Sorry about slamming the door!" he heard faintly. He started to tell her it was okay when he heard her mother cry out.

"Amadeus! Something's wrong! I just know it is! Break the door down!"

Tails sighed and shook his head. This was not a good beginning. He hurried towards the front door. He hadn't even let them in yet and already it felt like he had butterflies in his stomach. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" he cried. Well, they were bound to be tired from their journey. They'd go to bed soon after making a big deal about how he took so long to open the door, and he then could get Cosmo out of there. He reached the door and opened it.

"Miles, precious, it's so good to see you again!" his mother cried, throwing her arms around him. "Are you still losing weight? Whatever am I going to do with you, baby?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Tails assured her. He didn't want to end up being force fed until he felt like bursting again. Besides, as nervous as he was about how they'd react to Cosmo's return, he was glad to see his parents again, and hated to think about all the trouble he'd caused them. "Please don't worry about me. I promise you won't have to go through that ever again!"

"Your mother loves to worry," his father told him, clapping Tails on the back. Tails made a face. His back was still very sore. "You just need to get used to-something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine," Tails repeated. If his parents knew he'd been trampled while fighting Eggman, they'd fuss over him all night and watch his every move the next day. "Got a little twist in my neck from sleeping wrong, I guess." He hated lying to them, but then maybe he _had_ slept wrong. After all, his back had bothered him before they went to the mall. He'd hoped to look into that, but he seriously doubted he'd have a chance to do much of anything the rest of that day. His mother was looking at him as if she thought he was going to keel over right in front of them.

"You've been sleeping on that lumpy couch, haven't you?" she demanded. Tails noticed that while Cosmo had taken the blanket he'd given her, she'd left the pillow behind. "I sat down on it one day and my back was sore when I got up. Amadeus, the boy needs new furniture!"

"We'll take care of it, dear," her husband said. "The problem is it's too soft! Why, when I was a soldier, I'd sleep on the ground for weeks at a stretch, and I always felt fine the next morning! Miles is used to too much soft living!"

Tails started to moan at the thought of sleeping on an army cot, or maybe the floor, when he noticed Cosmo's bags still under the coffee table. His eyes bugged out. Oh, man, if his parents saw them…

"Uh…uh…you two must be very tired after your long journey," Tails said. "Why don't you both sit down…uh…not on the lumpy couch, and…and we can talk about your trip?"

"Let me make some tea," his mother said. "Then I'll make a hot compress for your neck, dear." She hurried into the kitchen. Tails was suddenly very relieved Cream had insisted on grocery shopping. If she hadn't, his mother would have been back in the living room in five seconds, making him lie down and telling his father he was starving himself. He looked over at his father, who had sat down in a chair across from the side of the table where Cosmo's packages could be seen. So far, so good. Now, how could he sneak them to Cosmo without his parents noticing?

_Come on, brain, think! _But nothing came to mind. His brain might be great for coming up with inventions, but when it came to little white lies it just refused to function. _I'm too honest for my own good!_

…

From Tails' bedroom, Cosmo had been struggling to listen to what was going on. She didn't dare open the door, in case someone was in the hallway and saw the door moving. She also didn't dare lean against the door to try to hear. She did not want Tails' parents' first view of her to be her falling on the floor right in front of them on her face. Dignity was very important to them, Tails had said.

Dignity. Okay, that meant walking with head up, shoulders back, chest out, right? That was how Cream had told her soldiers walked. Amy had said you modeled the same way. Cosmo had absolutely no interest in being either of those, but if it helped with Tails' parents, she'd try anything. What else? Lots of bowing. Don't speak unless spoken to. And she should keep her hands folded modestly in front of her. Well, that was easy enough for her to do, anyway. She looked at her hands. Why were they shaking? No no no! That wasn't good at all! She sat down on Tails' bed and tried to compose herself. Her hands were still shaking. She sat on them to keep them still.

What should she do while she waited for Tails to signal to her? She didn't dare turn on the light, and it was too dark to look at the things she'd gotten that day with it off. Too bad, looking them over might have helped calm her down, and…

She turned her head quickly from side to side. Where were they? She struggled to remember if she had had them in her hands when she'd come in here. No, she'd only been carrying her shoes, which she'd put on after closing the door, and the blanket, which she'd dropped onto the bed, and…

"They're still under his table!" she whispered, horror-stricken. "Right where Tails' parents will see them! And…and what I got today isn't exactly what a boy would buy for himself!" She buried her head in her hands. She was still causing poor Tails troubles!

…

Tails had come up with several ideas to get his father out of the room long enough to move Cosmo's packages. Unfortunately, all of them would mean him going with his father. He couldn't even disconnect a light bulb or do something to the fuse box and ask his dad to take a look at it. His father would expect _him_ to fix it. _People always did say I'm too smart for my own good._

Tails looked around again. Wait! The pillow Cosmo had left behind! It was a long shot, but it seemed big enough to hide the bags. He picked it up. "Sorry, I fell asleep earlier on the couch-er-watching television. Here, let me just put this away." He pretended to drop the pillow, right next to Cosmo's bags. "Sorry about that," he said, bending down to pick it up. He winced and struggled not to moan as his back acted up. This time, though, the pain was higher on his back, where he'd been trampled. He placed the pillow over the bags, then lifted them together, pressing the bags against his chest. He stood up, wincing again.

His father had noticed. "What's wrong with your back, boy? You get blown out of that silly plane of yours while being shot at? Again?"

"Haven't used the X-Tornado for awhile, Dad," Tails said, starting towards the hall. "Uh…maybe I need a better chair when I'm inventing." Great. Now they'd probably be complaining every time he tried to build something.

"Maybe you need to spend more time doing kid things like playing ball instead of working all day and night making things that blow up," his father said.

"Um…I don't build things that blow up anymore, Dad," Tails said, stepping into the hall. So far, so good. Now which room would Cosmo have hidden in?

He was just about to try the door to his bedroom when he heard a soft bang and a squeal from inside. Had something happened to her? He flung the door open. Cosmo was sitting on the bed, rubbing her foot.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, placing the pillow and her bags on the bed next to her.

"I feel so stupid," she whispered back. "I leave my bags where your parents can find them, trip on your blanket, and now I stub my dumb big toe on this bed…"

"Shh…it's okay," Tails said, patting her head. "Listen, I have to get back before they come in here and find you." He hurried to the window and opened it. "I wish you could stay longer, but it's just not a good idea right now. I'd hoped you could stay and I could see you a little later, but there's always a chance they might come in here and find you.

Cosmo nodded sadly. "You're right," she agreed. I really should go now."

"Can you get out the window okay, or is your foot bothering you?" Tails asked her.

"I'm okay," Cosmo promised him, slipping on her shoes and giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek. "I hope I hear from you soon, Tails." She started out the window, then gasped and hurried back to grab her packages. "I forgot them…again!" She seemed to sort of bounce to the window, onto the windowsill, and out the window.

Tails hurried to the window and waved. "Are you sure you remember how to get back to Cream's house?" he hissed. "I don't want you to get lost!"

Cosmo waved back and smiled at him. "Don't worry," she called softly up to him. "I remember the way Bye, Tails." She turned and hurried away.

"Bye, Cosmo," Tails hissed, knowing she couldn't hear him. He closed the window, then hurried to the door to his room. He opened it, stepped back into the hall, and closed the door behind him. He found his father standing in the hall. Had he heard their conversation? The butterflies in his stomach were now bats.

"What was that banging sound?" his father demanded, looking him over carefully. Tails remembered an old Earth saying Chuck had taught him: "Guilt is written all over your face." He was sure his father suspected he was up to something.

"I…stubbed my toe on the bedpost," Tails said, remembering what Cosmo had said.

"I know what you were doing," his father said. Tails' blood froze in his veins.

"W-what do you mean, Dad?" he asked. Had his father heard Cosmo's voice? The last thing he and Cosmo needed was for his parents to think he was hiding girls in his room!

"You left your room a mess and didn't want your mother to find out," Amadeus said, giving his son a conspiratorial wink. "Don't worry. She doesn't need to know you're not a great housekeeper."

But actually Tails usually was. Being alone for so long, he had learned to pick up after himself. To make everything look neat and tidy. He'd even watched Cream and her mother and Ella cook so that he wouldn't have to rely on anyone for hot meals. But maybe it was just as well if his parents thought he was a slob. It would make him seem more "normal."

"Uh…thanks, Dad," Tails said, following his father back into the living room. He sighed with relief as he collapsed onto the couch. Ow. Maybe it _was_ the couch that had done the number on his back. He _had _been sleeping on it often since coming home from space. There had been a lot of sleepless nights when he had walked like a zombie from his bedroom to the living room through the rest of the house, and even outside to the greenhouse and downstairs to the Blue Typhoon, in the vain hope that if he couldn't sleep in one room or area, he'd find peace in another.

_Man, was I really __**that **__pathetic? _

Tails' mother stepped into the living room at this moment, holding two cups of tea. She handed one to her husband, the other to Tails. She looked at him carefully. "You're sure you're all right, baby?" she asked., placing a hand on his forehead.

"I'm fine, really, Mom," Tails assured her, although he hardly felt it. The bats felt like they were jumping up and down in his stomach now. "So, um…how was your trip?"  
"Let me get my tea and then we can chat," his mother said, patting him on the head, causing his hair to fall down into his eyes. As she returned to the kitchen for her cup he brushed his hair out of his eyes. Hopefully it wasn't standing straight up now. He sat down on the couch.

Tails took a sip of the tea, hoping it would help his nerves. All his parents needed was to see him shaking. Ah! Hot!

"Um…let me get some coasters for the tea," Tails said, getting up. Keeping busy usually helped when he was worried about something. Now where did he keep them?

"I've got them, precious," his mother said, returning from the kitchen again, cup of tea in one hand and three small mats of decorative paper in the other. She handed one to Tails, one to her husband, then sat down in one of the two chairs near his couch. She placed her coaster down on his coffee table, followed by her cup. "Come sit down, dear. Tell us how you've been."

Tails sat down on the couch, hoping his mother wouldn't say anything about it. He couldn't do anything about getting new furniture now, and didn't feel like sitting on the floor at the moment. He placing his coaster on the table. He took a careful sip of the still too hot tea, then set it down on the coaster. "I've been doing great," he assured them. "Getting some ideas for inventions again." He leaned back into the couch and tried to calm down. Sonic would tell him to be cool. What would Sonic do in his situation? He had a sudden mental image of the hedgehog sitting upside-down on the couch and pretending everyone else was upside-down. Okay. Never mind what Sonic would do. He leaned forward and picked up his cup again. He blew into it, then took another sip. "I was thinking of…jet ski boots. So…um…you could go waterskiing without a boat." Actually, that was an old idea of his based on what he'd seen of Shadow's shoes, which had been the basis for one ones Chris had made for Sonic in space. The problem was that only someone like Sonic or Shadow could really use those shoes effectively and safely. It would take some modification before he could give them to anyone else. Most likely candidate to test them out would be Knuckles. He'd complained that Chris hadn't made a pair for him.

"That sounds interesting," his father said, drinking his tea. Amadeus Prower never admitted he couldn't handle something, although the look on his face made it clear his tea was too hot for him. Tails might have laughed if he wasn't so nervous, but really, wasn't he just like his father in that respect? Trying to take on more than he could chew so he wouldn't look like a wimp? At least, he suspected that might be why his father was always acting so tough. He remembered the first really stupid thing he'd ever done, trying to fight Eggman by himself just to prove he wasn't a wimp. He'd been, what, five at the time? Luckily Sonic had been keeping an eye on him and saved him from getting into too much trouble. He wondered if he'd ever be able to convince his parents that the blue hedgehog kept him from getting in distress, rather than causing him distress, as they thought. Doubtful, but if Cosmo could come back to him, then anything was possible.

"Isn't that rather dangerous, dear?" his mother asked. Tails couldn't help but notice that she'd laced her fingers together, just the way Cosmo did when she wasn't sure what to do with her hands. "I mean, how would you steer? Or stop?"

"You'd steer by shifting your weight from side to side," Tails explained. "And starting and stopping would be done the same way, by clicking the shoes together. You see, each shoe has part of the ignition built into the side, and they're activated by making a connection between the two. Clicking them together would start them, clicking them again would stop them. A friend made a pair but there are still some bugs in it that need to be ironed out. And don't worry, Mom, I wouldn't try them out myself until I'm positive they're completely safe. I'll have Knuckles or maybe Sonic test them."

The expression that briefly crossed his mother's face when he'd mentioned Sonic made him wish he hadn't started this conversation. But he couldn't very well tell them that Cosmo was alive without mentioning Sonic. After all, it was because of him (and Shadow, he had to admit,) that Cosmo had returned to him.

Tails swallowed hard as he looked at his parents. Well…putting it off any longer would only make them angrier in the long run.

"Mom…Dad…" he said nervously, almost pouring his tea into his lap, "there's something you need to know…"

His mother stood up and placed her hand on his forehead. "I knew it!" she said uneasily. "Something's wrong! Amadeus, I told you I could sense…"

Tails shook his head. "Oh no, no, Mom, it's nothing bad," he assured her. "In fact, something wonderful has happened. I just wasn't sure how to tell you…"

"This isn't about another new invention of yours, is it?" his father asked, looking bored.

Rosemary gestured angrily to her husband. "Now, now, Amadeus," she scolded, "that's no way to talk to our genius little boy. Tell Mommy and Daddy what you did that was so wonderful, precious. I know we'll be very impressed and proud of our little boy, won't we, dear?"

"Why, of course we will, Rosemary," Tails' father said quickly. "Go on, boy, tell us all about it."

"Well," Tails said, hoping he wasn't about to make a terrible mistake, "you'll never believe what happened in my greenhouse yesterday…"

…

"Mister Prower?" a voice said. Merlin felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see one of the nurses. "Doctor Gantan will see you now."

He sighed with relief. With any luck he'd be out of here in no time without having to blow up the window and make a run for it. Then perhaps he could do something for that poor girl.

As he walked down the long white corridor he suddenly noticed a stranger walking towards the pharmacy. A stranger carrying an all too familiar object.

"My cane!" Merlin cried, stunned, as he walked as quickly as he could, using the cane the institute had given him. "Where did you find it?" Perhaps his luck was beginning to change at last.

Or perhaps not…

Eddie backed away from the old fox. "Sorry, there, old timer," he said, "but this is _my _cane."

"My good sir," Merlin said calmly but firmly, "I am definitely grateful that you found and took such excellent care of it, but I most certainly do assure you that it is my possession, and a very valuable one at that." He winced as he realized what he'd just said.

Eddie looked at the staff then at Merlin. "Doesn't look like much to me," he said. "And you don't exactly look like a baron. What could an old coot in the funny farm offer me?"

Merlin took a deep breath then let it out slowly. "Old coot," he thought. He wondered if he could find a spell to make himself look younger. Not actually make him younger, that was too much to hope for. Just something that would fool the eye of people assuming the old are feeble, not just of body but of mind. "I'm here by mistake," Merlin said out loud. "Once they realize their error, I will be released."

"That's what they all say, Gramps," Eddie said. "I can't eat rainbows and moonbeams."

Merlin sighed. Was he going to have to go to Chuck for help after all? "What is it that you want?" he demanded. "Some food? A new suit of clothing? I'm certain my nephew, General Amadeus Prower, will be happy to accommodate you."

"A general, eh?" Eddie said, looking even more interested. "After I get the medicine I've come for, I'll look up your nephew. That is, if he's not too far from here. Difficult to get places walking, especially in the snow and all."

Merlin shook his head a few minutes later as Eddy, still carrying Merlin's cane, walked on to the pharmacy. He certainly hoped Miles would actually be able to provide the fellow with the transportation he'd demanded. Well, at least Merlin had been able to get his hands on his cane for a minute, allowing him to gather some energy and place it in the cane the hospital had given him. He turned and hurried as fast as he could to his appointment. Hopefully the doctor wouldn't be annoyed that he'd kept her waiting.

Merlin stepped into the doctor's office. This was the woman that had released Miles, so hopefully she'd be willing to listen to reason. Certainly no one else in this place had been.

"Mister Prower?" Doctor Gantan said. "Please be seated."

Merlin sat down in the empty chair in the room and looked at the doctor. "There's been an unfortunate error," he told her. "I assure you, young lady, that while I may be old, my mental faculties are as keen as ever. As I've attempted to tell a colleague of yours, I don't belong here."

"You're a relative of little Miles, aren't you ?" the doctor asked, writing something in a notebook. "How has he been doing?"

"I am his father's uncle," Merlin said. "And I'm afraid that I haven't seen him in awhile. I was, however, on my way to visit him when I was dragged off to this place."

"You were found unconscious," the doctor said, still writing in her notebook. "And the report I received says you were incoherent when you regained consciousness."

"I was not incoherent!" Merlin shouted. The doctor looked up at him. "Sorry," he muttered, realizing losing his temper was the last thing he should do if he wanted to convince her he didn't belong here. "Forgive me, young lady, but you must understand, I have been told that several times, although never as politely as you have just stated it. I was attempting to warn my great nephew that I encountered a Metarex. Since you know Miles' case, you must realize how dangerous those creatures are."

"Yes I do," Dr. Gantan said. "But Miles informed me they were all destroyed last year."

"I'm afraid my nephew was mistaken," Merlin assured her. "While the leaders of that vile group may be long gone, they clearly left servants behind. Please, Miles needs to be informed of this. I have to get the message of their continued existence through to Sonic."

"I see," Dr. Gantan said. "Would you like some tea, Mr. Prower?"

"What I would really like is to be released, young lady," Merlin said. "I don't belong here, and I really must warn my nephew of what I've discovered. I assure you, I am not senile, if that's what you're thinking."

"I'm sure you aren't," Dr. Gantan said pleasantly. "But there are tests that will prove it and get you out of here sooner."

Merlin sighed. "And you want me to take these tests, yes?" he asked. "Well, let's get this over with then." _Just control yourself a little longer, and you'll be out of this place._

…

Tails looked from his mother's stunned face to his father's equally shocked visage. Their silence was not a good sign. Darn it! Maybe he shouldn't have told them Cosmo was back quite so soon. Should have let them get settled in more. Or would that have made any difference? For someone not believing in the chaos emeralds' powers, this was an awful lot to accept.

His father looked at his mother. His mother looked at his father. _Come on! One of you say something already!_

"Um…so," Tails said, "I…guess you both have a lot of questions about what I've just told you. I…"

To Tails' surprise, his mother suddenly threw her arms around him. "Oh, Miles, baby, I'm so sorry!" she said, hugging him tight.

"What?" Tails said, confused. "Mom, what are you sorry about? This is great news, why are you acting like…" Then it hit him. She was sorry because she didn't believe him. Couldn't believe that Cosmo was alive. Which meant, since he'd just said she was, that he must be… "I'm not imagining things!" he insisted. "She really is alive!" But then he realized how crazy he sounded. Like when he'd used that stupid time machine and come back screaming he'd killed her again.

"It's all right, baby," his mother assured him. "We'll get you help. That stupid doctor obviously let you go too soon."

"I don't need help," Tails insisted, trying to pull free without pushing his mother. "I'm not crazy! Just call Sonic! Or Amy! Or Miss Vanilla! They'll all tell you she's really alive!"

"The Parlouzer boy again," Amadeus said, getting up. "I think it's time I had it out with his father."

"Be careful, dear," Rosemary said, still holding Tails. "As a robot he probably has all sorts of built in weapons systems!"

Tails suddenly wished that Cosmo was still in his room so that he could call her to come in and prove he hadn't lost his mind, when there was a knock at the front door.

"Um…I'll get it!" he said, finally wriggling free of his mother and hurrying to the door. He didn't care who it was, as long as his parents were distracted long enough for him to call for help. Besides, maybe it was one of his friends.

"Hey, Tails!" Amy said, starting to push herself past him into his house. "I came to see if the two of you need anything. Where's csmrph!" Tails had placed his hand over her mouth. Amy's eyes grew wide, then narrowed.

_Oh, great, I think she's about to beat me up…_ "Please calm down," Tails whispered in her ear. "My parents are here! Cosmo left to go back to Miss Vanilla's house. Didn't you see her pass you?"

Amy pushed his hand away and whispered back, "I came the long way around. Picked up an ice cream bar on the way over. Don't worry, Cosmo is a little scatterbrained but she isn't goofy. Cream and I showed her the short way. We don't like going that way, but Cosmo didn't mind when we showed her the way yesterday." Amy and Cream preferred going the long way to get to his house from Cream's because the shorter way, nearly a straight line, led right through a cemetery. Having been dead herself, that hadn't bothered Cosmo. "I guess I'll go then. Sorry, Tails, but I really don't care much for your parents."

"First I need you to convince them I'm not crazy," Tails hissed. "When I told them she's alive, they started talking about getting me help again." Amy was not his first choice to prove his sanity. She had a reputation for convincing herself of things that weren't true, usually things revolving around Sonic.

"No problem," Amy said out loud. Not the sort of person that put things off, or did things half way, Amy prompted walked into the living room, smiled, and waved. "Mister and Misses Prower, you're back! Good to see you again!"

"Oh…it's you, Miss Rose," Tails' mother said. "I'm afraid now is not a good time for a visit. Little Miles isn't feeling well."

"I'm not imagining things, Mom!" Tails insisted, returning to the living room behind his friend. "Cosmo's alive and well, isn't she, Amy?"

"Absolutely," Amy said. "And if you don't believe me, you can ask Sonic. Or Miss Vanilla. Or the Chaotix…well, maybe you shouldn't ask them. Those guys are pretty weird."

"Wait," Amadeus said firmly. He'd risen when Amy came into the room, and now crossed over to her. "You say this Cosmo person is alive. How can this be when you yourself have stated she was dead?"

Amy grinned. "It's because Sonic is so wonderful!" she said dreamily.

Tails' parents exchanged glances. Tails himself facepalmed. Now they'd think Amy belonged in Happy Acres, too. Not that he didn't occasionally think that might be a good idea himself.

Amadeus looked down on Amy. Tails' family was considerably taller than his hedgehog friends. It struck Tails that Sonic had pretty much reached his full height, while Tails was still growing. And Cosmo…when he had seen her adult spirit self, she had been so tall! He wondered if he would reach her height or end up shorter than she was. Why was he thinking about this now? _Come on, brain! Concentrate!_

"It's really true, Mom and Dad," Tails insisted. "Cosmo is really back, and…and I'd like…I would like for the two of you to…er…" No, wait. Better to say he was just happy she was alive and wanted to spend time palling around with her, like he did with Amy and Cream. He didn't know much about love and romance but he did know that eleven year olds didn't ask their parents if they could start dating.

Amy, being Amy however, finished his sentence for him. "He wants you guys to let him date her," she said, placing her hands together against the side of her head. "You see…they're in love…"

Tails' facepalm became a slow burn. His brain had offered him too little too late.

"I beg your pardon, young lady!" Rosemary said, standing up and stepping over to the other side of the hedgehog. "What did you just say?"

Tails motioned for Amy to stop, but once she'd started, it was nearly impossible to get her to quit. "You must have known he didn't just feel guilty about shooting her last year," she went on. "His last words to her were that he loved her. Isn't that romantic? Two star-crossed young lovers, separated by tragedy, brought back together by the power of love and friendship!"

Rosemary took a step back from Amy. She looked at her husband. "Do you think it's contagious? Maybe something in the water?"

Amadeus folded his arms. "The dead do not 'get better,'" he insisted. "Death is permanent."

"Well…we…thought she was dead…" Tails said, struggling to come up with some half way plausible explanation that would make sense to his doubting parents. "But she's not. Honest. You can call Miss Vanilla and ask her if you want. She's a very trustworthy person." He looked at Amy again. She might as well have shown up in a clown costume wearing a red nose and rainbow colored hair with big floppy shoes.

"I'll call her!" Amy offered. She walked to Tails' wall phone, completely oblivious to the stares she was getting from his parents.

Tails felt perspiration on his forehead. "Uh…Amy's very…exuberant, isn't she?" he said nervously.

"I don't know what's going on around here," his mother said, "but now I _have_ to see this Cosmo person for myself." She didn't exactly sound like she intended to enjoy that meeting.

"Hi, Cream!" Amy said, speaking into the receiver. "Can you put your mother on the line? Hello? Mrs. Rabbit? Yeah, it's Amy. Hey, listen, Tails' parents don't believe Cosmo is back. Could you tell his mom you've seen her too?" She held the phone out to Mrs. Prower.

Tails reached out and pressed the speaker button, hoping his mother wouldn't turn it off. He wanted to hear the entire conversation. He also wanted to hear Cosmo's voice again.

The vixen took the phone. "Hello? This is Rosemary Prower," she said. "What's this about that girl my son was crying over turning up alive?"

"I assure you it is quite true," Vanilla said, her voice sounding dull, emotionless, not at all like the nice lady Tails was used to seeing with Cream. "I've spoken with her at some length since her return. In fact she's staying at my home for at least the time being."

"I see," Rosemary said. "Might I trouble you to let me speak with her?"

"Uh…well," Vanilla said, "…just a minute…"

Tails froze. What if Cosmo hadn't gotten back yet? What if she'd gotten lost? What if Rouge had attacked her again? He should have had Amy go after her immediately!

"Um…h-hello?" came a thin, uneasy voice, sounding a bit out of breath. She must have ran all the way back. Tails was relieved she'd made it, but felt terrible that she'd had to go through so much for him.

"Who am I speaking to exactly?" his mother demanded.

"M-my is Cosmo," came the soft reply. She sounded nervous. "Are…am I sp-speaking to…to Tails'…to Mrs. Prower?"

"This is Rosemary Prower," Tails' mother said. "I was under the impression that you were…er…no longer among us."

"Uh…uh…" Cosmo seemed struggling for something to say. "I…I…just woke up yesterday, very…what's the word? Disoriented? I'm sorry, my grasp of your language is imperfect."

"I believe I would like to see you," Rosemary said in a no nonsense voice. "Tomorrow, I think. Yes. Come in about…ten o'clock. You do know what that means, yes?" Tails wanted to tell his mother that Cosmo wasn't stupid, but he didn't dare say anything.

"Y-yes, Ma'am," Cosmo's voice said. "I…I would be…delighted to speak with T-Miles' illustrious mother."

"I think I'll be going now," Amy said, edging for the door. Tails' mother scared her, and Amy Rose did not scare easily.

"Very well then," Rosemary said, ignoring the hedgehog. "Ten o'clock. And don't be late."

She hung up the phone then looked at Tails. "I think we need to talk some more, young man."

Tails wiped the perspiration from his forehead. "Y-yes, Mom." He sat down and cringed as his parents moved to either side of him.

…

"Master," E-123 said as Eggman approached. "This unit is in need of repairs! Quarry proved surprisingly resourceful." Omega attempted to rise, then fell over backwards with a loud crash.

"Tell me something I don't know," Eggman said to the machine. And here he had been so sure this one could defeat Shadow. Where had he gone wrong? Well, he'd go over his notes later. First he should get a report from the horse's mouth, so to speak. "You were supposed to destroy Shadow," he pointed out needlessly. "Why did you fail me?"

"This unit encountered the target, Shadow the Hedgehog, and engaged in battle," Omega said emotionlessly. "Quarry should have surrendered but continued to resist even though this unit made it clear he was merely delaying the inevitable. Somehow the quarry won. This unit has gone over the battle many times and the quarry's victory does not compute!"

"Hmm," Eggman said, opening Omega's control panel and looking through the wires and tubes contained inside. "Obviously Shadow has more going for him that I anticipated. Well, after all, he _was_ my grandfather's masterpiece."

"As I am yours, Master," Omega said dully, attempting to stand. One leg completely buckled under his weight and Eggman had to leap out of the way to avoid being crushed by the collapsing robot.

"Uh…well, that's somewhat debatable," Eggman said, selecting a few wires and disconnecting them.

"Master! What are you doing?" Omega asked as his sensors began to go numb.  
"You've been a disappointment to me, Omega," Eggman said, gesturing to Bocoe and Decoe to come over. The two smaller robots looked at each other, then at their master, and then at the E-123 unit.

"What is it that you want us for, Doctor?" Bocoe asked nervously.

"Yes, we will do anything you wish, Boss," Decoe added.

Eggman smirked. "Yes, I'm sure you will, you two mechanical dunderheads! Now get busy and put E-123 in that crate, then take the crate to Warehouse number five and dump it with my other failures." The heavy set scientist turned his back on them and began to walk away.

"But…you _are_ going to repair Omega and send him after Shadow again, aren't you?" Bocoe asked as Decoe moved towards the crate.

"Maybe," Eggman said. He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. After all, why should he? He was alone except for three robots, and machines didn't deserve good manners. "I might eventually. If I feel like it. Or maybe I'll just take the records of his battle with Shadow and use them to make an even more powerful robot. You know how I hate to repeat myself." He stepped into the next room and pressed a button, lowering the metal door between rooms. Blocking his creations off from him. "See you two losers later! Now get to work!" He walked away, apparently forgetting that Bokkun had not accompanied him. In fact, the messenger robot was nowhere in sight and hadn't been since Eggman had gone to get Omega's report. Well, he didn't really matter anyway.

Bocoe and Decoe looked at each other.

"It is really too bad, isn't it?" Bocoe said as the two of them managed to get Omega into the crate. "He seemed like a nice fellow."

"True," Decoe agreed, nailing down the lid of the crate. "I think the Doctor was a bit premature about tossing him away."

"What really worries me is that he was so loyal, and his failure wasn't really his fault," Bocoe went on after bringing a forklift to pick up the crate with.

"Yes, that makes me wonder about what the doctor might decide to do to _us_ one of these days," Decoe said, riding on the back of the forklift.

"Don't scare me!" Bocoe said. "I have enough insecurities already."

…

Tails' parents made it clear they both suspected something was very suspicious about someone he'd mourned for months, even built a memorial park and put up a statue of, suddenly turning up alive and wanting to see him again.

"Perhaps I should stay with you when you meet this odd girl," Amadeus told his wife after she'd hung up. "I want to see what sort of enchantress has wrapped our son around her little finger so effectively."

Tails colored. "She's not an enchantress!" he yelled. "And she didn't do anything to me! I did something to her!"

"Keep your voice down indoors, young man," his father said loudly. "We don't raise our voices in here. Only _I _raise my voice in here! Is that perfectly clear?"

Tails hung his head. "Yes, Dad…"

Rosemary patted her husband's shoulder. "Now, now, Amadeus," she said, "don't scare the boy. And I think I should look her over myself first. Woman to woman. Don't worry, she won't put anything over on me, I assure you of that!"

"She's not trying to put anything over on anyone!" Tails said. As his parents glared at him he forced himself to stop. Having them think Cosmo was manipulating him was awful, but convincing them she could also get him to turn against his family would be even worse. _Okay…calm yourself, Miles…_Not seeing what else he could do, he sighed and said, "Excuse me, but I'm very tired. If it's all right, I'd like to go to bed now."

"That's a good idea," Rosemary said. "I'll be in to tuck you in after your father and I have talked some more, baby."

Tails shook his head as he went to his room. Trying to talk any further would only get them both more annoyed, both at him and at poor Cosmo.

He got into bed and looked up at the ceiling. This was going to be a long, long night…

…

At Cream's house, Cosmo stared at the receiver after Tails' mother had hung up.

"Cosmo?" Cream said, approaching her friend slowly.

Cosmo jumped. The phone fell from her hand. She tried to catch it but missed. It landed on her foot with a clunk. "Ow!" she cried, grabbing her foot. She fell over backwards. Cream caught her.

"Are you okay?" Cream asked.

"Just nervous, not fine," Cosmo said. She shook her head. "I mean just fine, not nervous. Except that's a lie. The mistake was the truth. Oh, Cream, she sounds like she hates me already!"

"Well, she _is _pretty scary," Cream agreed, helping Cosmo to her couch. "But she loves Tails so she must be a good person. Er…deep down…"

"Now, Cream," Vanilla scolded. "You know we mustn't judge people." She didn't sound like she really minded, though.

"W-what should I do?" Cosmo asked. "What do I say? How do I say it? What should I wear?"

"Calm yourself, dear," Vanilla said, bringing Cosmo a cup of tea. "Don't you worry, now. Just be your own sweet, polite self and you shouldn't have any trouble." She didn't sound like she really believed that but Cosmo was too shook up to notice.

"Don't you worry, Cosmo," Cream assured her friend. "My mom knows all about how to act around scary people, don't you, Mother?"

"Don't call people scary, dear," Vanilla said, putting her hand over her mouth. Cream wondered if she was hiding a laugh.

"Sorry," Cream said. "Amy should be back soon, and I know she'll be glad to help you."

"Uh…perhaps it's best if Cosmo listens mostly to me," Vanilla said. "I mean…too many cooks spoil the broth, you know."

"Huh?" Cosmo said, blinking. "You want me to cook something for Tails' mother?"

"Er, no, dear," Vanilla said. "I mean it's best if not too many people give you advice at once."

"But you and Amy wouldn't be too many people, Mom," Cream pointed out.

Vanilla forced herself to smile. "Just…please let me handle this, Cream," she said. Cosmo suddenly got it. Vanilla was suggesting that Cosmo not take advice from Amy. Remembering the times she'd seen the hedgehog yelling and swinging her hammer around, the plant girl thought that was probably a good idea. One thing that she definitely knew for certain was that this would be a very, very long night. Vanilla's lessons on etiquette ran long after Amy had returned. They didn't keep the plant girl from worrying, however. If Rosemary Prower didn't approve of her Cosmo didn't have the slightest idea what she would do. Vanilla gave her some tea to calm her nerves, but it didn't help much.

Neither Tails nor Cosmo slept much that night.

…

"Don't be scared, Cosmo," Cream said as they walked towards Tails' house the next morning. "Tails' mother might yell but I'm sure she doesn't hit." Well, she was _pretty _sure…

"How do you do it, Cream?" Cosmo asked nervously, wringing her hands together as they reached the top of a small hill and started down. Tails' house was just beyond the trees up ahead.

"How do I do what?" Cream asked. She reached out and gently pried Cosmo's hands apart. "You don't want her to see you're nervous."

"But I _am_ nervous," Cosmo said, now not knowing what to do with her hands. She finally decided to lace her fingers together the way she usually did. "How do you manage to seem calm and happy no matter what's happening around you?"

"My mother told me to always smile and be pleasant, no matter what," Cream told her, patting the plant girl on the shoulder. "Sometimes when people are scared seeing one person looking like a bad situation's not bothering them calms them down a little. And once you start to panic, it can get out of control until you're screaming and crying and running around looking for someplace to hide. So the best thing to do, for yourself and for others, is to just act like there's nothing wrong."

"I'll try my best," Cosmo said. "But I just don't think I can pretend not to be alarmed by something if I am the way you can."

"Sure you can," Cream assured her. "Remember last year? You didn't look scared at all when you flew off to where Dark Oak was and…oh…n-never mind…"

Cosmo shut her eyes. Suddenly she was back there again. "I'm in place! I'm directly connected to this monster by my body as you can see! Fire on me and you can destroy him!" She shook her head and opened her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Cream asked, her brown eyes staring at Cosmo. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reminded you of that time…"

"It's okay, Cream," Cosmo assured her. "I guess that will always be a memory I'll wish I could forget. But you're right. If I could stand there and tell Tails to fire on me, then I shouldn't be afraid of this. His parents can't possibly be as scary as Dark Oak!"

"That's the spirit, Cosmo!" Cream said, thumping the Seedrian on the back. She cried out and grabbed her friend as Cosmo fell into a snow drift. "Sorry! Sometimes I forget how strong I am!"

"That's okay," Cosmo said, as the two began to brush the snow off of her. "I'm not as fragile as I look. Wimpy, yes, fragile, no."

"You're not a wimp," Cream assured her. "You just feel that way because you've been hanging out with people like Mister Sonic and Mister Knuckles, who are really strong and tough." She clenched her fist and flexed her arm. Muscles seemed to pop out and coil like snakes for a moment, then fade away as she opened her hand and straightened her arm.

_I wonder if Cream realizes just how strong she is? _Cosmo asked herself. Not just physically. Cream had just gotten her heart broken. By Cosmo. Yet here she was cheering up the girl she should have seen as a hated rival. _You're a very special person, Cream. I hope you can find the happiness I've found._ But thinking of that just reminded her that perhaps she had found only a brief stint of happiness, and it may be about to end.

"I'm sorry, Cream," she said a moment later, realizing the bunny was still talking. "What was that?"

"I said it's a relief you're still you," Cream said. She seemed to think about this a moment. "What I mean is, I thought, maybe, after all that had happened, after all that time, you'd be…you know, different somehow."

Cosmo smiled sadly. "But now you can see that I'm still the same, what was it Amy called me-airhead-I always was?" she asked.

"You're not an airhead," Cream said, picking up a handful of snow and shaping it into a ball. She tossed it at a tree. "Uh…sorry," she said. "I…I'm sure the tree isn't hurt."

"That's all right," Cosmo said. "The tree doesn't mind. Right now it's resting, awaiting spring. But don't worry, you won't wake it tossing snow at it."

"That's good to know," Cream said. "Maybe after you've talked to Tails' mother, we can build a snowman or something."

"Maybe," Cosmo said. But that would depend on what happened during this meeting. If Tails' mother didn't like her, well, she wouldn't feel like having fun, or much of anything else.

All too soon the friends had to stop speaking. Tails' house was just up ahead. Cosmo took a deep breath. Cream had been carrying a bottle of water. She handed it to the other girl.

"Here. I'll bet your throat's really dry," Cream said. "A drink of water might help."

"Thanks, Cream," Cosmo said, smiling. She twisted off the cap and took a drink. Then another. Then another. Cream finally took the bottle from her.

"Sorry, but you don't want to start dancing while you're talking to Tails' mother and ask if you can use her bathroom," Cream said, putting the bottle back in the backpack.

"You're right," Cosmo said. "I really needed that, though. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Cream said. "I'll wait here for you to come out."

Cosmo shook her head. "You shouldn't stand out here in the cold waiting," she said. "I might be gone a long time, depending on what she wants to ask me."

"Oh, don't worry," Cream said. "Cold doesn't bother me much. Or Cheese, either. Right, Cheese?"

"Chao chao!" Cheese responded, giving Cosmo a thumbs up. He was wearing a small cap and a scarf and mittens.

"And we can't just leave you," Cream added. "Especially if Tails' mom makes you cry." She didn't want to make Cosmo any more nervous by bringing it up, but that fox had scared her silly a few months ago.

Cosmo threw her arms around the bunny. "I don't deserve a friend like you, Cream!" she sobbed. "Sometimes you were the only thing keeping me from locking myself in my room on the Blue Typhoon and crying my eyes out. I swear I'll pay you back for all you've done for me. Some how."

"You don't have to do anything," Cream said. "And making you smile when you were sad made me feel better about myself. Like I wasn't just a silly little girl. Like I could do something for others."

"You're a very special person," Cosmo agreed. "Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. The world needs people that can bring smiles to sad faces."

"You're special too," Cream assured the other girl. "Look at what you've done for Tails. Now go on and show his mom what a great person you are so you can keep seeing him, because I never want to see that boy cry again!"

"Me neither," Cosmo said, walking slowly towards the Prowers' house. "And I'll do my best to keep that from happening again. Every day of my new life."

Cosmo swallowed hard as she walked up to Tails' front door. His house had seemed friendly, inviting yesterday. Today, it seemed cold and haughty, as if it had decided it hadn't liked Cosmo being there. She cleared her throat nervously. It of course only seemed like that to her because she knew the person waiting for her inside had already decided not to like her without even meeting her. Someone that she desperately needed to have like her. She took a deep breath, then knocked on the door.

"Come in," came a voice from inside.

Cosmo swallowed again, looked towards Cream, then reached for the doorknob. It didn't seem to want to open. Was it locked? Or had she just forgotten how to use a door? She finally managed to turn the doorknob and pushed the door open. She froze for a moment as she looked for the first time at Tails' mother. She bowed deeply, bending nearly double. "I-I am honored to meet the illustrious mother of T-Miles Prower," she said hoarsely. Did she dare to clear her throat, or would that be considered rude?

"Come inside and close the door," Rosemary Prower said. "It's cold."

"Yes, Ma'am," Cosmo said, closing the door carefully so that it didn't slam. She turned towards the female fox again.

Tails' mother, seated in her son's easy chair, indicated the couch. "Sit down, please, young lady."

Cosmo walked over to the couch. She bowed again, then sat down as gracefully as she could. She forced herself to remain calm, even though she felt like running around the room screaming and crying. She waited for the fox to speak.

…

Cosmo had only been in there a couple of minutes when Amy raced over to Cream. "I finally caught up to you!" the hedgehog said. She looked over at Tails' house. "Cosmo's inside?"

The bunny nodded. "Just went inside," Cream said. "You didn't have to come, Amy. I can take care of myself and Cosmo. Remember, I have Cheese here with me."

"Chao chao!" the little blue creature said, nodding.

"I'm sure you can," Amy said with a giggle. "But I realized it might be a long time before Cosmo comes out, so I thought I'd keep you company." She held out her hand. "Let's go down the road a little. We don't want Tails' mom to look out the window and think we're ganging up on her."

"No, that wouldn't go so well, would it?" Cream asked, taking Amy's hand.

The two girls walked along, looking around at the snow covered area. There was a bench nearby, now covered with snow. Amy and Cream, with Cheese's help, brushed the snow off and sat down.

"Cold?" Amy asked her friend. "Your mother had me bring this." She opened a small bag and took out a thermos and two cups. She unscrewed the cap from the thermos and poured a hot, smoking liquid into the cups. She handed one to Cream. "Here you go. Your mom thought of this right after you left."

"Thank you!" Cream said, taking a sip. "I'll be sure to thank my mom, too. Remind me, Cheese."

The chao saluted. "Chao chao!"

"I'll assume that means yes," Amy said, drinking her tea.

Cream sipped her tea again, then looked wistfully towards Tails' house. "What happens if-if Tails' mother doesn't like Cosmo?" she asked.

"Let's worry about that when and if it happens," Amy said. "Now let's talk about something pleasant. Like the dress I'm going to wear at the Valentine's Day Dance! And at how Sonic will take my hand and say, 'Amy, I don't know what I was thinking all this time, but I can finally see that you're the only one for me!' And I'll be all 'Oh, Sonic, I just knew you'd realize that one day!'"

Cream rolled her eyes. Oh well, as long as it made Amy happy…

…

"Sit down, buddy," Sonic said, watching the fox pace back and forth in front of him. "You're going to wear a big hole in the carpet!"

"This is no time for jokes, Sonic," Tails said, staring in the direction of his house. He had been surprised when his mother had told him to go see Sonic that morning. When he'd suggested staying at home, she had insisted he "get out and play." It had only occurred to him after he'd left the house that his mother didn't want him there helping Cosmo figure out what to say to her. He had noticed her watching him through the window, probably to make sure he kept going and didn't hang around waiting for her. "I wonder what they're talking about right now? I shouldn't have come here. I should go and see what's happening. I can climb in a window and listen at the door, and…"

"Whoa, hey, time out there!" Sonic said, making a "T" with his hands. "You're getting yourself all worked up, and you know the best way to convince your folks that you should be able to see Cosmo is to show them that you're happy and cool now that she's back. You start looking like you did when you came back from space, they're going to think Cosmo has a bad effect on you whether she's around or not."

"Nikki's right, dear," Sonic's mother said, pouring the fox some tea. "Here, maybe this will help. It's one of Mrs. Rabbit's recipes. That woman is absolutely fascinating. It's too bad your mother…er…uh…won't join our ladies' group."

Tails sighed. He knew Sonic's mom had been about to say it was too bad his mother wasn't like Cream's. But Miss Vanilla would probably be pretty picky herself about who Cream should date when she was old enough. That was to be understood. She sure wouldn't pick somebody like…oh…Bokkun. Well, Cosmo was polite and diplomatic. Maybe she could convince his mom to give her a chance. Of course, that still left his father…

…

"Look," Tails' mother said after awhile, staring into Cosmo's eyes. "I understand what you're saying, but I have to look at what's best for my son. You're not from this world, and you're…well…you have no nose…that's a bit…alien looking…"

"Because I _am_ an alien," Cosmo pointed out. "But that doesn't mean…"

Rosemary stared into her tea cup. "Miles' father and I have had quite a bit of trouble with aliens…"

Cosmo found herself having trouble catching her breath. "Please, Ma'am…I'm sorry for what you and your husband had to go through, but…but it wasn't my people." As horrible as it must have been for Tails and his family, it was a relief to hear about aliens causing someone grief and knowing that for once it wasn't a member of her own species.

"I can see that you're lonely and need someone since your race are all gone, but Miles has his own problems. Some people already don't accept him. He's a sweet, wonderful boy…"

Cosmo nodded emphatically. "Yes," she agreed, "yes he is."

"But he's already been picked on so many times for being so clever," his mother went on, "not to mention his tail problem."

Cosmo shook her head. "I love how brilliant he is," she assured the fox, "and I think his having two tails makes him look very cute."

Rosemary turned her back on Cosmo. "I would like grandchildren one day," she went on. "Since you're not from this world, that's probably not possible."

Cosmo blushed. "Um…it might be," she said. "I mean…maybe…" She bit her lower lip. This was just too embarrassing a subject to discuss, particularly with Tails' mother.

"And how would you know that?" Rosemary demanded. "Has any of your people ever married and had children with a Mobian before?"

"Well, no, Ma'am…" Cosmo said, trying to think of a way to change the subject without seeming rude. "I only know that my mother told me there was a chance that…I mean…" Why was it so hot in this room? She struggled to raise the tea cup to her mouth without spilling tea all over herself and touched her cheek. It was so warm.

"What was she like, your mother?" Rosemary asked. Cosmo let out a sigh. Thank goodness she'd changed the subject! Perhaps she'd noticed Cosmo blushing? _Oh…what she must think of me…_

"She…didn't speak very much…at least, not after I was born…" Cosmo said. Well, that was true. Her mother rarely spoke as a tree. "She was in charge of the council that made decisions for my clan. When we abandoned our home world, she…ran our colony ship."

"So your mother was in a position of authority," Rosemary said, sounding a bit less annoyed with her. Cosmo forced herself not to grimace. She didn't like trying to impress someone by bragging about her family. _Please forgive me, Mother. But I'm scared and I don't think this is going at all well…_

"Y-yes, Ma'am," Cosmo said, nodding. Wait. Was she supposed to nod?

"And what about your father?" The room, until now seeming very hold, now felt icy cold.

"H-he was a-a scientist, Ma'am," Cosmo said. Well, that was the truth…

"You mean like Miles," Tails' mother said.

"No! Not like Tails!" Cosmo cried, nearly spilling her tea on herself. "I…I mean he…he studied in fields that Tails wouldn't be interested in. Genetics and weaponry."

Rosemary raised an eyebrow at Cosmo's reaction, and the other when she mentioned weapons. "You didn't get along well with your father, did you?" she demanded.

"I…I wanted to…" Cosmo said, biting her lip. It was so difficult, answering these questions without telling her the whole horrible truth. "But he…he…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said at last. "He never saw me as a daughter, only something useful to him."

"And you resent him for that?" Rosemary demanded. "Look me in the eye when I'm speaking to you, little girl."

"S-sorry, M-ma'am," Cosmo stuttered, looking up into the vixen's eyes. While they looked like Tails' eyes, they lacked the warmth and kindness she saw in them. "Y-yes, I…but you don't understand what he was like…"

"And just exactly what _was_ your father like?" Rosemary insisted.

Cosmo's hands were still laced together. She clenched them tight until they both hurt. "He…he didn't…didn't like…a-animals, Ma'am," Cosmo admitted.

"You mean he felt plants were superior beings? That animals were no good?" Rosemary said. Her eyes narrowed.

Cosmo felt her eyes grow moist with tears. _If I tell her the truth, she'll probably think insanity runs in my family. But she's too smart to lie to! _Cosmo sighed. "Yes," she said at last. "He thought animals were violent and plants needed to…take over. But you see…w-we had been at war, before I was born, with a human empire of planets that destroyed most of our world and our people." Was she actually defending Dark Oak now?

"Go on," Rosemary said, leaning back in her chair. "Tell me more."

Why was it so hot in the room suddenly? Cosmo could feel perspiration on her forehead but didn't dare brush it away with her hand. "M-may I have a tissue, please?" she asked.

"Here," Rosemary said, handing her a box of them. "Now, you were saying that your people were at war with an empire of those dreadful humans. What happened next?"

Cosmo rubbed her forehead and dabbed at her eyes. "Um, yes, the…war…" Cosmo said. "Well, he…found a new energy source that could help his soldiers win the war, but…"

"But what?" Rosemary asked. She looked at Cosmo closely. "You're stopping and thinking of what to say before every answer, aren't you?"

"Uh…uh…" She had her there. "It's just that…"

"He's not someone you're proud to be related to, is he?" the vixen said.

"…no…" Cosmo said finally. "I…he tried once, but he made it clear he didn't…he didn't like Tails…"

"You mean your father didn't approve of you seeing my son," Rosemary said, leaning forward and staring into Cosmo's eyes.

"I…no, Ma'am…" Cosmo said. This was getting worse and worse.

"Then why should I?" the fox demanded.

"Be-because…because people should be allowed to fall in love with whoever they want to fall in love with, even if they're very, very different from each other," Cosmo explained. "The fact that Tails is an animal and I am a vegetal being doesn't matter as long as we care for each other."

"And how would your father have responded to your telling him that?" Rosemary asked.

"He would have called me a fool…" Cosmo admitted.

"He would have yelled at you?" Rosemary coaxed her.

"I believe he probably would," Cosmo agreed.

"Would he have struck you? Rosemary asked.

"M-maybe…"

"I'm sorry, little girl," Rosemary finally said, folding her arms, "but I think it's best if you stop seeing my son. From some of the things he's told me, and from you have just confirmed, I think you have some issues you need to deal with."

"Issues?" Cosmo asked, confused. "I'm afraid I don't…"

"You hate your father, don't you?" Rosemary asked her point blank.

"I…I try not to…" Cosmo said, looking at her hands.

"And you _do _know what my son went through because of you?" the vixen pointed out. "He was despondent for months! He couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. He cried day and night."

Cosmo's face collapsed. Her eyes began to fill with tears. "I know!" she sobbed. "I know I've hurt him! Please! Please give me a chance to make it up to him! I'll really try my very best, Ma'am! I swear I will! I'll devote the rest of my life to making him happy!"

Rosemary held up her hand to stop her. "That all sounds very pretty," she said. "Very hearts and flowers, love is forever, and love solves all the world's problems and all of that. But the two of you are still children. How can either of you really understand love at your age?"

Cosmo bit her lower lip and shook her head violently. "No!" she whispered. "No, you're the one that doesn't understand! I could have been very happy with my family but I chose to come back to be here with your son! Knowing that my life on your planet might be sad and difficult! It wasn't just a sudden impulse! I know it's my fault Tails suffered so badly! I swear, if you give me the chance, I'll devote the rest of my life to making it up to him!"

"Wait," Rosemary said, suddenly in Cosmo's face. "What do you mean you could have been happy with your family? Miles said your family was…" She stared at Cosmo a moment, then looked away. "I see. You wanted to join them," she said finally. "You considered…well, I certainly can't have someone that unstable with my little boy."

"But…but…" Cosmo said, finally dropping her knees, intending to beg despite Tails' insistence that he didn't want her doing that. "Please! Let me explain! I…" she suddenly realized what the fox was hinting at. "You…you think I was considering…No! I never considered suicide! I could have stayed with my family because I was already with them!"

Rosemary took a step back at that statement. "You're not going to insist that you died and 'got better,' are you? I don't know how you convinced Miles you were dead, maybe with your friend Sonic's super speed and I hear he can teleport now. That's it, isn't it? You faked your own death, didn't you?"

Cosmo was aghast. "What? No! No, I would never do such a horrible thing! Certainly not to Tails-Miles! Oh, how can I convince you I'm telling the truth?"

Rosemary walked across the room and opened her front door. She turned to Cosmo. Her eyes were hard. Cold. "Either you're lying or you're suffering from hallucinations," she insisted. "Sounds like schizophrenia. Have you ever heard voices?"

Cosmo gasped. "Well…yes…" Cosmo gasped again as she realized how her confession sounded. "But… but…but that was because the Metarex placed a listening device in my brain!"

"They did what?" Rosemary cried, staring at her.

"They…they wanted me to be a spy for them…" Cosmo said miserably. "But it wasn't my fault! Tails wanted to remove the spy device, but it could have permanently damaged my vision and hearing, so he had to leave it in! But…but when he checked yesterday, it wasn't there anymore, and…"

"How convenient everything suddenly is for you," Rosemary said, her voice dripping sarcasm. "You were dead until you didn't need to be. You couldn't let Tails know you were all right until you needed to be. You had a listening device in your brain until you didn't need it there anymore. I don't know how you conned a bright boy like Miles with that nonsense, but you're not fooling me. Get out. And stay away from him." She glared at Cosmo. Her eyes were scary. "I'm serious! I have ways of dealing with people that try to harm my family!"

Defeated, Cosmo pulled herself to her feet and walked slowly towards the door. She stepped outside with a sigh, then turned towards the vixen one last time. She opened her mouth, struggling to think of something, anything, to say. She needn't have wasted her time. The door closed loudly, firmly, in the plant girl's face.

Cosmo turned and started to walk away from the house. It didn't occur to her that Cream should have been out there waiting for her. Nothing mattered except for the fact that she had been ordered to stay away from Tails. She felt cold but it had nothing to do with the weather. All of her hopes, her dreams, had just been shattered. She didn't know what to do now, and at the moment she really didn't care.

…

The bat slipped behind a pile of snow and watched the plant girl as she walked aimlessly. She knew the chaos emerald she'd taken from Eggman during all his commotion with that broken down robot of his was a fake. She hated costume jewelry, had ever since she'd first gotten her hands on the real thing when she was about Amy's age. But it had occurred to her that if Sonic and Shadow could call up cool new powers by having even a phony chaos emerald, then she wanted in on it. Being able to throw a chaos spear was bound to come in handy some time. But so far she hadn't been able to get it to do anything.

"Where the heck is she going?" Rouge wondered, looking up at the sky as it began to softly snow again. "She sure picked a great time to go exploring this boring planet." Well, aliens were weird. Sure, there were exceptions. Topaz and Molly for example. But she'd never see either of them again…

Rouge flapped her wings and flew high overhead, careful to avoid having her shadow fall in front of Cosmo, who was looking at the ground. It wouldn't have mattered. Cosmo wouldn't have noticed her in the mood she was in. But the flying Mobian didn't know this. Nor did she really know why she was following Cosmo. It wasn't really her fault she'd gotten into trouble again. But goody goodies like her ticked the bat off. Well, maybe she'd feel better if she put a bit of a scare into her. She circled a bit as she watched Cosmo continue to walk. Then she grinned as she saw where the younger girl was headed.

"Well, well, well," she muttered to herself. "Figures she'd head over to that big fancy garden they'd made for her. Going to admire her statue, huh?" She flew on ahead and landed by the garden. "This should be fun!"

…

Cosmo, not knowing where she was going, had suddenly seen the garden, which had a removable ceiling overhead to keep out the wind, but was not heated like Tails' greenhouse in order for the plants inside to experience winter. As a plant herself, Cosmo knew that many plants couldn't grow to their full potential unless they were able to go into an annual hibernation. Was that her problem? Should Tails have kept her outside? Had she come back too soon? Too dimwitted to answer his mother's questions properly?

Cosmo sighed. "Face it, Cosmo," she said softly as she approached the entrance. "You never were the sharpest tool in the shed." She laughed despite how miserable she felt. Galaxina had said that once when Cosmo had tripped on her petal skirt and fallen on her face. Cosmo had been five at the time and started crying. Galaxina had helped her up and dried her tears.

_Onee-sama…I need you right now…I've lost Tails, the reason I came back…and I don't know what to do! _

But sadly there was no reply. While Cosmo remembered little of her time among the deceased, she did remember her mother telling her that she had exhausted the number of times that she could speak with Tails. That she could have gotten into serious trouble if she had tried to continue to contact him. Her family probably couldn't speak with her again, no matter how much they may want to. But they had looked down on Tails with her so many times, she knew they were most likely watching her now.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I…I left all of you thinking I'd have a future with Tails. I know all of you encouraged me to go back, but…but Tails' mother wouldn't even listen to me! I feel like such a fool!"

Cosmo stepped into the garden and walked slowly past some creeping vines, followed by flowers in pots. Like she had been not long ago. She sighed. Maybe she should still be in that pot.

The plant girl gasped as she came upon a gray figure that looked exactly like her. The tears that had nearly stopped started flowing freely again. "Oh…my…goodness…" she whispered, reaching out and gently touching the statue's cheek. Had Tails had this made for her?

There was a plaque at the bottom. She bent and squinted in the dim moonlight to read it.

"TRIBUTE TO COSMO, SAVER OF THE GALAXY AND THE FINEST FRIEND ANYONE COULD EVER HAVE. WE SHALL MISS HER, BUT WE SHALL NEVER FORGET HER HEROISM AND BRAVERY IN THE FACE OF DEATH."

"I'm not a hero," Cosmo whispered, rubbing at her eyes. "I'm no savior. I just did the best I could!"

"Well, well," came a voice behind her. "Admiring yourself, are we?"

Cosmo jumped and spun around. "Rouge?" she said softly. "Wh-what do you want?"

The bat stepped jauntily towards the Seedrian with a smirk on her face. "Just looking to have a little fun," she said with a mischievous voice. "You like swimming, don't you?"

Cosmo had taken a step back and bumped into a support beam. "Uh…why, yes, I do," she said. "Um…why do you ask?"

Rouge placed her hand on Cosmo's back. "Now, now," she said, "you didn't really think I'd carry a grudge, did you?" She put her arm around the plant girl and began to lead her back to the entrance.

Not knowing what else to do, Cosmo walked with the bat. She didn't trust her, but she didn't want to be rude. Besides, she didn't think Rouge would actually hurt her. The older girl had seemed more interested in humiliating her than anything else.

Suddenly, something dropped from the bat's jacket. A chaos emerald? But Tails had said they still weren't working. A fake then? But Cosmo had heard that Rouge hated fake jewelry.

"Oopsie," the bat said, picking up the gem. "Pretty, isn't it? Probably won't last very long, but nice to look at while it's here." She looked at Cosmo's flower jewel. Her trained eye told her it wasn't worth much, so she lost interest in it. "The little fox give you that?" she asked.

"Um, yes," Cosmo said, placing her hand nervously on it. "I wear it because I lost my amulet. I've never gone anywhere without it my entire life, so…"

"So you felt naked without it, huh?" the bat finished for her. "Nice coat," she went on. "He get you that as well?"

Cosmo nodded. "Yes," she said. "He's a very kind and generous person. Only…" she shook her head. Why was she about to tell the bat that Tails' mother had just forbidden her from seeing him again? Say, where were they going, anyway? "Um…might I inquire where you are taking me, Rouge?"

The bat smiled, showing her fangs. "You looked pretty down just now, kid," Rouge said, "bad news, huh?"

"Yes, but…" Cosmo started to say, but the older girl interrupted her.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to pry and ask you exactly what happened," the other girl said. "But since you're alone out here, and heading in the opposite direction of where Tails and your other friends live, I'm guessing you want to be alone for awhile."

"I think that's for the best," Cosmo said, thinking about what had just happened again. Tails would be so disappointed when he learned he couldn't see her anymore. "Where did you say we were going?"

Rouge's smile became a smirk. "I just thought we'd hang out together for awhile," she said. "So you can see I'm not really a bad person."

_I know I shouldn't trust her, _Cosmo said to herself, _but I can't fight her by myself, or outrun her. She doesn't seem too bad though. I wonder where she's taking me. Didn't she ask me about swimming? Seems like an odd time for a swim. _She sighed. _Even if she isn't really trying to be nice to me, though, does it really matter…if I can't see Tails again?_

…

Cream and Amy, worried about their friend, had finally returned to Tails' house. They looked around in every direction.

"I don't see her anywhere," the little bunny said to the hedghog. "If she's still inside Tails' house, she's been there a really long time. That's good, right? If Tails' mom didn't like her she'd've made her leave by now, wouldn't she?"

"Unless Cosmo already came out, didn't see you, and went back to your house," Amy said. She looked down the road leading to her home, then back at Tails' house. "I don't see her anywhere, but then I've missed her before. She may be alive again but sometimes she moves just like a ghost."

Cream made a face. "Please don't remind me of that," she begged, looking back towards her house. Someone was approaching. "Look! Here comes Tails!"

"She's not with him," Amy said. "Guess she's still inside."

"Cream? Amy?" Tails said. He looked around. "Wh-where's Cosmo?"

Cream sighed. "I'm sorry, Tails," Cream said. "I was watching your house for her to come out but I left for a few minutes, and now I don't know if she's still there or not."

"It's okay," Tails said, patting the rabbit on the shoulder. At least he certainly hoped it was. "I didn't see Cosmo on my way here, so she must still be there. But I decided I just couldn't wait any longer. I'm going to go in and talk to both of them. But I think you should stay here, Cream. Unless you're cold, I mean." He looked over at Amy. "Maybe you should take Cream home."

Cream shook her head. "Not until I'm sure about Cosmo," she insisted. "Go on, Tails. We'll wait for you."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Tails promised her, hurrying towards his house. Like the girls, Tails assumed that if Cosmo was still there after this much time, she and his mother must be getting along at least reasonably well. It was a more than he'd hoped for. He walked up the front steps and turned the doorknob.

…

Some distance away, Cosmo continued to follow Rouge, becoming more and more nervous the entire time. She suddenly wondered if she could hold the bat with large roots and vines long enough to make a desperate run for it.

"Um…I really should be getting back," Cosmo told the bat, turning back. "Tails and Cream will worry about me and…"

"But we're already here," Rouge told her, grabbing Cosmo's arm. Cosmo looked where she pointed, confused.

"Uh…but why have you brought me here?" Cosmo asked.

…

Where has Rouge taken Cosmo, and why? And what will Cosmo and Tails do now that Tails' mother has definitely forbidden them from being together? And what about Merlin and the guy with his staff? Find out next time!


	14. Chapter 14: Growing Pains

AFTER THE METAREX

Chapter Fourteen

"Growing Pains"

Tails stepped into his house and looked around. He saw his mother dusting the furniture, but he didn't see any sign of Cosmo. Was she in the bathroom? Or had his mother…

"Mom? Where's Cosmo?" He waited nervously, afraid of what her answer would be.

He was right to be worried. His mother looked up, wrinkling her nose. "Oh, Miles, baby," she said, putting down the feather duster and crossing the room to hug her son. "Don't you worry, precious. I'll find you a much better girl when you're a little older."

Tails' blood ran cold. He pulled away from her. "Wh-what do you mean?" he demanded. He asked again. "Where's Cosmo?"

"Gone, and good riddance," Rosemary said. "Seriously, she gave me the most ridiculous story I ever heard. And did you know that her father was a criminal? Shocking, really shocking! Why I…"

But Tails had already turned and ran back outside. "Miles!" he vaguely heard his mother call. "You get back here! Let that girl go! Do you hear your mother, young man?"

Tails ran back to his friends. "Amy! Cream!" he called. "Help!"

"What's wrong, Tails?" Cream asked, racing to meet him halfway. "Did something happen? Is Cosmo okay?"

"I don't know…" Tails said, sounding stunned. He explained what his mother had told him.

Amy's mouth dropped open. Cream gasped and put her hands over her mouth.

"That's…just not…right…" Cream managed to say.

Amy was still silent. For her, this was a bad sign. Tails and Cream could practically feel the flames pouring from the pink hedgehog.

"Amy…please calm down," Cream said.

"Come on!" Tails cried, eager to find Cosmo and hopefully avoid an Amy outburst. "We have to find her!"

"Miles!" they heard. Turning, they could see Rosemary Prower heading towards them.

"Let's go!" Amy said. "Before I tell your mother what I think of her…"

Tails motioned for Cream to grab Amy. She did and the fox and rabbit took to the air, just as the vixen reached where they'd been standing.

"You get back here this minute, young man!" they could hear Tails' mother shouting. "Your father will hear about this!"

Tails sighed. "I'm sure he will," he said. "But right now all I care about is making sure Cosmo's okay."

"As least you're flying right again," Cream pointed out. "Whatever was wrong yesterday must have fixed itself."

Tails hoped it was something that simple, but things had never been that easy for him. Well, he could worry about his flying problems later.

"Where could she have gone?" he asked.

"Maybe she went another way," Cream suggested. "Maybe she's back at my house by now."

"I hope so," Tails said. He called Cream's house. "Hello? This is Tails. Has Cosmo shown up yet?"

"Why, no, Tails," Vanilla said, looking confused. "Didn't you meet her at _your_ house?"

"I'll explain later, Ma'am," Tails said. "Excuse me, I need to call Sonic."

Tails' hand shook as he attempted to type out Sonic's number. He kept hitting the wrong keys. "Darn it!"

"Take it easy, Tails," Amy told him. "We'll find her! Cream, let's go this way. You go that way, Tails. If we don't see her in a few minutes we'll meet by Cosmo's Memorial Garden and decide what to do next. Hey, maybe she went there to see her statue. Let's go, Cream!"

Cream nodded and flew off in one direction. Tails went in the other. He couldn't believe this was happening! Cosmo had to be heartbroken! What if she had an accident and…and got covered over with snow and…and he never found her? No! He couldn't allow himself to think that way. He _would_ find her! He had to!

…

"I…I don't understand," Cosmo said to Rouge. "Why did you bring me here?" The bat had brought her to a large wooden building. From the dark windows and spider webs it was clearly long empty.

"This place used to be popular this time of year," Rouge said, "close to the mountains but it's old and needs repairs now. I thought you'd like a place to sit down and rest and think."

"I…well, thank you," Cosmo said, wearily, "but I really should be going back to Cream's house…" She turned to leave.

The bat grabbed the plant girl's shoulders and steered her towards the building. "And then what?" she asked. "You'll cry on her shoulder? Don't you think you should compose yourself before you go back to her place? Your eyes are all red from crying. You don't want her to worry, do you?"

"Well, no," Cosmo admitted, rubbing at her eyes. "But she's expecting to meet up with me. I shouldn't have wandered off…"

"Better go in the bathroom and wash your face first," Rouge said, walking up to the front door and starting to pick at the doorknob with something that looked like a wire.

"Uh…what are you doing?" Cosmo asked.

"Forgot my key," the bat said, grinning as she felt something inside of the lock mechanism move. She opened the door. "Come on in. And close the door. It's cold outside!"

"I didn't really notice," Cosmo said, closing the door. Strange. It didn't seem to want to close right. Almost like something was wrong with the…lock…

It occurred to Cosmo that Rouge might have done something to force the lock. She'd seen Tails do that on a couple of planets while they were fighting the Metarex. But why would she take her to some place she had to break into? This entire day was just getting crazier and crazier.

"Excuse me," Cosmo said as she followed Rouge through the building, "but I really don't feel well. I need to lie down for awhile." _And pull the covers over my head and stay there for a few days. _

"No problem," Rouge said, taking off Cosmo's coat and tossing it onto a chair. "You can lie down on the couch over there for awhile."

"But we really shouldn't be here when the place is closed," Cosmo pointed out. _If Tails' parents found out I was breaking into a place where I shouldn't be…but then, they already think I'm no good for their son. _Despite herself, she laid down on the couch. It was a bit old and some threads had come loose, but it was comfortable. She curled up into a ball and shut her eyes.

_You faked your own death, didn't you? _

Cosmo rolled over.

_Either you're lying or you're suffering from hallucinations. Have you ever heard voices?_

Cosmo squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Stop! Please stop!

_How convenient everything suddenly is for you. You were dead until you didn't need to be. _

Cosmo sat up with a sigh. No, closing her eyes and trying to make her mind go blank was definitely not going to work. She looked around. Where had Rouge gone? She got up and started to search for her. If she didn't find her soon, she decided she'd just leave and try to find Cream's house.

Cosmo checked the kitchen. The bat wasn't there, but the back door was open a crack. Cosmo started towards it then stopped. If Rouge had sneaked out for some reason, she probably wouldn't be happy to find out that Cosmo had spied on her. She climbed carefully onto the kitchen sink and peeked out the window. She couldn't see anyone. She dropped lightly to the floor and crept back to the door. She opened it just enough to look outside. Still no sign of her.

Not sure what else to do, Cosmo opened the door wide enough to squeeze through and noticed a small building nearby. What Tails and Amy had called a garage, perhaps. She tiptoed over to it, stepping around an old watering can, looking about in case she saw Rouge, and heard faint muttering. She stopped, realizing it was coming from just on the other side of the building. She stepped gingerly over to the edge and strained her ears.

"What do you mean you can't get me a robot?" she heard Rouge mutter. "Maybe you really do want Cream to know about that locket."

Cream? Locket? What was she talking about? Who was she talking to?

The second answer she got a moment later. "You're really useless, Bokkun!" the bat said. Cosmo couldn't hear him so she had to be speaking to him over some sort of communicator. What had Chris called them? Phones?

"Oh, poor you," Rouge said. "He wouldn't have suspected anything if you hadn't been so obvious about liking her."

Liking whom? What was…wait. Bokkun had yelled at Tails for leading Cream on while she was dead. Did Cream know Bokkun liked her? She'd have to tell her about this as soon as she could get away. What did Rouge want from her, anyway?

Again it was almost as if Rouge had heard and decided to answer her questions. "So much for my plan to have Cosmo attacked and pretend to rescue her and get Knuckles to like me again. And this would have been the perfect place for a reconciliation too. Big comfy empty building, crackling fire, heated pool, choice of several bedrooms…"

Cosmo made a face. So that was what she was up to! It was so terribly wrong of her to plan such a thing, but at the same time, she couldn't hate her for trying to use her in such a scheme. She felt sorry for Rouge. Cosmo knew quite well that there wasn't much that someone in love wouldn't do to be with their special person. But something like that, too many things could possibly go wrong. The robot could go out of control and injure both of them, for instance. Cosmo decided to get out of there fast.

Unfortunately, as she hurried away, she looked back and her foot knocked over the watering can. Metallic, it made a loud clang as she hit it.

"Uh oh…" she muttered, starting to run.

"What was that?" she heard the bat say. Then she heard, "Hey! Get back here, you!"

"Please, just let me go!" Cosmo begged as she heard the flapping of wings. On foot, Cosmo was faster than the bat, but in the air, the bat could catch her easily. Rouge landed in front of Cosmo.

"It's your fault I lost Knuckles!" the chiropteran said angrily, taking a step towards the plant girl.

"That's not fair," Cosmo said, taking a step back. "I didn't do that, you did." She watched the bat's face. Knuckles had told her that usually someone's eyes narrowed when they were going to attack. "You must realize that hurting me won't get him back!"

"It'll make me feel better!" Rouge said, taking another step towards her.

"Please," Cosmo said, backing up further. "I'm a terrible fighter. Beating me wouldn't be much of an accomplishment. When I first came to your world, Cream handed me a bag of groceries, and it was so heavy I lost my balance and fell."

"Sometimes beating up on a wimp is good therapy," Rouge argued. "It's an easy win, so it makes one feel better about oneself."

"You feel better about yourself by hurting someone weaker than you?" Cosmo asked, confused. "Your self image must be almost as bad as mine."

"Don't compare me with you!" Rouge growled. "I'm nothing like you! You're weak! And I don't mean physically. You whine and cry and expect Tails or Sonic or Knuckles to come to your rescue. I don't know how a little wimp like you got up the nerve to sacrifice yourself last year." She grinned maliciously. "Maybe Tails' mother is right about you…"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Cosmo asked, swallowing hard. _Was_ Tails' mother right about her? _Was_ she unfit to be around someone like Tails?

"Maybe," Rouge said slowly, "maybe you weren't so brave as you'd like us all to think…"

"I never said I was brave," Cosmo started to say, but Rouge kept talking.

"…maybe you weren't thinking about saving everyone," the bat continued. "Not even your little Tails…"

"No!" Cosmo cried, realizing what Rouge was implying. "It's not true!"

Rouge laughed. So the alien had been wondering about that herself. "Isn't it?" she asked, twisting the knife she'd already metaphorically stabbed the Seedrian in the back with, "Isn't it just possible you did it because you wanted to kill yourself?"

"No!" Cosmo yelled again. "Don't say things like that!"

"If it's not true then why are you yelling?" Rouge demanded.

"Stop it…" Cosmo sobbed.

Rouge poked her with her finger. "Stop it," she mocked.

Cosmo backed away. "Don't!" she cried. "That hurts!"

"Oh, it hurts," Rouge teased. "Why don't you hit me back?" She patted her abdomen. "Go ahead. Hit me. I dare you!"

"I don't want to hit anyone," Cosmo said, backing away again.

"Good," Rouge said, "that makes things easier for me!"

…

Colin made a face as he walked towards his post at the factory. Just his luck that his majesty Chris Thorndork had decided to go visit his mummy on the set of her new movie. Just how many face lifts had that woman had by now? It was so unfair. She had to be close to his age, but looked much younger. While Colin…what was it about his family that made the males go bald at such a young age? And not in a good way, like Yul Brynner or Telly Savalas.

He began doing his actual job, which wasn't likely to ever help anyone get to another dimension, not without the info he needed that was still denied to him, but maybe he'd get lucky. Colin snorted. Luck. That was not exactly something he had ever had in his life.

While he worked, Colin went over in his mind what he knew about his annoying boss' relationship with that hedgehog. They had met when Sonic had fallen into his home swimming pool. Home swimming pool. He'd never been over to the Thorndyke mansion, of course, but it was probably Olympic sized. Hmph. Colin had always wanted a pool like that. Heck, had always wished someone would invite him to _see_ a pool like that.

After that, Sonic and his friends had started hanging out at the mansion. Like a bunch of stuck up celebrities. Once GUN had figured out where Sonic was, they'd placed one of their operatives, a real incompetent named Steward, at Chris' school as a teacher. This had never been made public, of course. Colin had pieced together that bit of information after noting several suspicious things he'd heard Chris mention about "that weird teacher I had back when Sonic was here" and, after looking him up, discovering the guy had never been a teacher anywhere before or since then.

He went over everything he knew about Sonic and Chris right up until the kidnapping at the very end, before the hedgehog had gone home. There was nothing that seemed all that important. Except the way he'd clung to that ring left behind when that Shadow character had supposedly died. He'd said Shadow had shown up alive in space, but apparently died again. Sounded like the Thorndyke heir had been nipping at the cooking sherry. That big hatchet faced old bat that worked for his parents in the kitchen wouldn't be happy about that. He'd met her once when she'd come over to the factory to give the elder Thorndyke the lunch he'd forgotten to bring with him to work. She had treated Colin like a dog, patting him on the head and offering him food like she was feeding a dog. He'd put up with…what was her name…Fella?…because he couldn't afford to make enemies among Thorndyke's circle of friends if he wanted to keep working here. But oh how he had hated her.

Colin shook his head. There were simply far too many possibilities. The code might be "ring" or "Shadow's ring" or "swimming pool" since that was where Chris had first met Sonic, or "chili dogs" since that was supposedly the hedgehogs best food, or anything Sonic related.

At lunch he stepped outside of the factory and went to a bus stop nearby to eat his lunch. People rarely sat there during his lunch hour and it had walls and a ceiling around it to keep out the wind and rain, although it was still cold in there in the winter.

As he was walking, a bicycle ran over his foot. "Hey!" he yelled, glaring at the cyclist, a young girl with red hair. She stopped and turned back.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said. "I didn't see you."

"You should be sorry!" Colin said, sitting down on the sidewalk to examine his foot. "The Thorndykes aren't going to appreciate my not being able to do my job!" And since it hadn't happened on Thorndyke premises, he couldn't even claim workman's compensation, blast the luck.

"You work for Chris?" the girl asked. "I'm one of his best friends. The name's Frances."

One of Thorndyke's best friends…? This could be just what he needed. The redhead didn't look too bright. Maybe he could get personal information from her if he was clever.

Colin rose to his feet. "Ah! Oh, that hurts!" he faked. His foot throbbed a little but she had no way of knowing he wasn't crippled. "Young lady, could you possibly help me over to that bus stop so that I can rest for awhile?"

"Sure," Frances said. She put down the kickstand on her bike and climbed off of it. She put an arm around him and, pushing her bike with the other hand, helped him to the bench. Yes, as he had hoped, this girl was pretty gullible. Not much to look at. Freckles ruined a girl's looks. But then he'd talk to a toad if he could get something useful from it. Actually, considering where he was hoping to end up, he might find himself talking to toads pretty often…

Frances helped him to sit down on the bench. She sat down next to him, looking worried. No doubt afraid he'd sue her. Not that he wouldn't have done it if it had been that idiot Chris. But this girl didn't look all that well off. What was up with a rich kid making friends of riff raff? Probably such a loser he had to _buy _friends.

"Pardon me," he said, "but by any chance did you know Mr. Thorndyke back when Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends lived at his mansion?"

Frances grinned broadly. "You bet!" she said. "Sonic was so cool!"

_Perfect_, Colin said, grinning back. This airhead might be just what the doctor ordered…

…

The bat picked up the plant girl and rose into the air. "You like water so well, I'm sure you'll enjoy this pool," she told her.

Cosmo struggled to get free. "Let me go, Rouge!" she demanded. "I was hoping you might have changed, but now I see you've deceived me just like Dr. Eggman has deceived poor Knuckles so many times. People like you play on the innocent and naïve!"

"Oh, suddenly you're so much like Knuckles, are you?" Rouge demanded. "Why don't you soak your big head?"

As she started to release Cosmo, the Seedrian girl grabbed at her arm. Their struggle only lasted a few seconds, Cosmo was surprisingly puny, but the chaos emerald Rouge had been holding in her belt slipped free during the fight. It plummeted into the pool, and Cosmo went in right after it.

"Blast it!" she cried. "There goes my emerald. Oh well, it _was_ a fake after all, I…"

Suddenly the pool began to glow with a brilliant light. Cosmo was completely concealed by the glow. The water suddenly leaped up, bubbling violently.

"What the heck is going on?" the bat demanded. "Did it dissolve in the pool like a giant antacid?" Not that she really cared too much at the moment, but what sort of effect was it having on the plant? Should she try to save her? She definitely didn't want the little twerp to die on her!

…

Eddie looked up at the Prower home. So the old guy lived here. Fancy place. Oh, certainly not a mansion or anything, although when one lived in a tent anything decent would look like a castle.

Eddie decided to get this over with. He walked up to the house and knocked on the door. If the old man was giving him a story, he'd find out soon enough and leave without getting back to him. And keep his old cane. He certainly had more use for a walking stick than somebody who was probably never going to get out of the loony bin.

The door was opened by a vixen. "Miles!" she cried. "You're…" She stopped, making a face Eddie was far too used to in recent years. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Don't worry, lady," Eddie said, holding up the hand without the cane. "I'm not a thief. I'm just delivering a message…"

Rosemary's face hardened. "If you're here to make threats, you've come to the wrong place. Touch me and my husband will have your head!"

"Whoa," Eddie said, taking a step back. This woman looked dangerous. He decided to try once more then get out of there. "Your uncle sent me. Old guy with a beard…"

Rosemary suddenly noticed the cane he was holding. "That's old Merlin's cane," she said. "What are _you_ doing with that?"

"That's a good question," he admitted. "I have no idea, since I found it miles from where he is. You see…"

It was at that point that Amadeus had returned. Seeing a stranger in rags, holding what looked like a club and facing his wife, the fox's blood boiled and his war training took over. He moved silently towards the intruder, motioning his wife to not respond to his approach.

Rosemary sighed with relief at the sight of her husband. "What did you do to Merlin?" she demanded from the vagabond to distract him from Amadeus' stealthy approach.

"I didn't do a thing to him," Eddie insisted, starting to turn away from her. "I was just trying to tell you he's in…"

It was at that moment that Amadeus pounced on him, knocking the cane from his hand. The two rolled over and over in the snow. Eddie was larger than the fox and had been hardened by years of struggling to survive, but Amadeus had had military training and seen quite a bit of fighting in his time. He kicked his opponent in the shin, at the same time driving his fist into the opossum's solar plexus. Eddie wheezed, trying to catch his breath. Amadeus grabbed him in a headlock and drove his face into the snow.

"Who are you?" he demanded, lifting Eddie's face out of the snow. He wouldn't get many answers knocking him out, let alone smothering him.

"The name's Eddie," the homeless fellow said. "I just came to tell you about your uncle…"

"Merlin?" Amadeus said. "What about him?"

"Ask him how he got your uncle's cane," Rosemary said, holding up the old staff.

"That _is _Merlin's," Amadeus said, finally getting a look at it. He tightened his grip on the stranger. "Where is he? Answer me!" he demanded.

"You're killing me!" Eddie cried, struggling to get free.

"No," Amadeus assured him. "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Now talk!"

Eddie now wished he'd just handed the old coot that stick and ran. He started telling the entire story, from when he first found the cane.

…

Rouge jumped back with a cry as something came up out of the water. Something huge. A green reptilian head stared at her with sparkling blue eyes. Flowers grew from the sides of the creature's head.

"It…can't…be…" Rouge said, backing away. "I thought…I thought only the males did that. I thought the females just turned into trees…"

The creature held up stubby arms and stared at them, then shut its eyes and let out what sounded like a cross between a roar and a sob.

Rouge flapped her wings and took to the air. The males had all gone insane after their transformations, right? Was Cosmo a beast in mind now as well as body? The bat wasn't about to wait to find out!

But it appeared what she wanted didn't matter. The dragon, which had been shaking its heavy head and making more roaring sobs, suddenly looked up and saw her.

"**You! This is your fault!"** the beast cried, chasing after her. **"Look what you've done!"**

"I didn't know!" Rouge cried. "Now listen, I'm sure if we both calm down and discuss this rationally…"

"**It's too late for talk!"** the dragon roared. **"Look at me! Are you happy? Look at me! You proved Tails' mother is right! I'm a monster!"**

Vines came up out of the air and wrapped around Rouge. These were stronger than the ones Cosmo had used on her before. Her transformation had apparently increased her powers. Rouge had to really struggle to get free.

While she was trying to decide what to do next, she noticed Tails, Amy, and Cream flying towards them. Maybe she could still handle Cosmo, but she had no intention on taking on all of them at once. She flapped her wings, flying haphazardly in a zigzag pattern to avoid more vines that shot up from the ground towards her, and flew quickly away.

"This isn't the last you'll hear from me!" she vowed.

"Tails, look!" Amy, being carried by Cream, cried, pointing at the dragon. "That looks like…like one of the dragons in Cosmo's mother's movie on her home planet," the pink hedgehog said. "You know, the last five survivors became Dark Oak and his four kings."

"But how did one get on Mobius?" Tails demanded, looking around. "He must be looking for Cosmo! He better not have hurt her!"

"Yeah!" Amy said. "Let's get him, Cream!"

Cream looked the dragon over carefully. "But…"

"No buts," Amy said. "Don't you want to stop this monster and find and help Cosmo?"

"Yes, but…didn't those dragons in the movie have horns?" she asked. "This one has flowers, and…oh my gosh! Tails, no!"

But the fox had already flown towards the dragon. While this creature was green, not red like he would have presumed Red Pine would be, all other Seedrians except Cosmo were dead, so it had to be him!

"You monster!" Tails cried, buzzing around the beast's head. "You'll regret ever coming here!"

"_**You**_** call me a monster?"** Cosmo sobbed, not realizing Tails didn't recognize her. **"Then I already regret coming here!"**

Tails forced his tails to increase their speed and threw himself, feet first, at the beast. Cream shocked him by blocking his attack.

"Cream!" Tails cried, glaring at the rabbit. "What the heck is your problem?"

"Tails, stop!" Cream shrieked, flying at him. She grabbed him from behind. "Stop before you hurt her!"

Tails struggled to get free. "What's wrong with you, Cream?" he demanded. "Don't you know what that is? It's a Metarex! It has to be stopped!"

"**Y-you-you tried to hit me!"**the dragon cried. **"How could you? How could you do this to me?"** The creature sank to the ground and tried to curl up into a ball. Tails flew towards it again. Again Cream blocked him.

"Stop it, Tails!" Cream shouted. "You're getting out of control!"

"What are you doing, Cream?" Amy demanded. "We can't let that thing run wild!"

"Why are you helping this Metarex?" Tails demanded.

Cream puffed out her cheeks angrily. "That's not a Metarex!" she yelled. "That's Cosmo! Don't you hear me? Don't you understand? You're attacking _Cosmo_!"

"What are you talking about?" Tails demanded. "Cosmo isn't…" Then he looked at the creature again. At the flowers on its head. Flowers. Not horns like in that movie, but _flowers _were on the creature's head. Pink flowers…

"Oh no…" Tails said, staring in horror. "Oh no…no…no…"

The sudden wails coming from the dragon told him Cream was right. He landed beside the creature, not thinking to be afraid. "C-cosmo?" he said softly. "Cosmo, is…is that…y-you?" He made a face, disgusted in himself. "Cosmo…I…I'm sorry."

"**Don't look at me!"** the dragon sobbed, trying to cover her face with her paws. **"I'm a monster, remember? You told me so yourself! And you're right! I **_**am**_** a monster!"**

Tails could have beat himself in the face. "I'm sorry," he moaned, trying his best to hug the huge creature. "I didn't know! Please don't hate me, Cosmo! Please! I never would have said those things or tried to attack you if I'd known it was you! I love you!"

"**How can you love a monster?"** Cosmo insisted, not looking at him. **"Your mother was right about me! Just…just leave me here. I…I can't face you, Tails! Not like this! I'm so ashamed!"**

"But-but you didn't do anything wrong," Tails said softly, kissing the dragon's arm. "You have nothing to be ashamed of! My mother hurt you, and then Rouge hurt you, and…"

"**I shouldn't have lost my temper," **Cosmo sobbed. **"I knew better! Why did I let Rouge make me so angry? She wasn't even the one I was mad at! I…" **She started wailing uncontrollably.

"Shh," Tails whispered, stroking her head. "It's okay, Cosmo. Everything's going to be okay." But how could it? Even if somehow he could get his parents to change their minds about her…wasn't the transformation pretty much permanent? Not to mention life threatening? Hadn't Dark Oak and his four kings only survived because they'd drained off the energy of their world's planet egg to stabilize the change? How _had _they changed back after being bombed? That was something Cosmo's mother hadn't been able to tell them.

Tails hugged the large beast as best as he could with his thin little arms. "I love you, Cosmo," he repeated softly. "And you love me. Nothing else matters."

"Cosmo, are you okay?" Cream asked, hugging the dragon as well. "You're shaking. Did you catch cold?" She held up Cosmo's coat. "I found this, but I'm afraid it won't fit now."

"**Please leave me alone, both of you," **Cosmo moaned. **"I'm so disgusted in myself!"**

"Don't you feel that way," Amy insisted, joining them. "You know, you've got a great boyfriend here. He's seen you at your absolute worst and he still wants to be with you. Now Sonic, when he sees me at _my _worst, he runs off. You have no idea how much I'd give for a relationship like yours."

"**What relationship?" **Cosmo insisted. **"I can't see Tails anymore, and…and now I'm a big ugly scary monster! Can you imagine…hic!…imagine his parents letting me…hic!…be with him now? I…hic!…now I've got the hiccups!"**

"I don't care about how they feel, or what's happened," Tails assured her. "We'll find a way to make it work."

Cosmo shook her huge head. **"How **_**can**_** there be a way?" **she sobbed. **"Look at me! How can you love someone that looks like this?"**

"Cosmo," Tails said softly, still stroking her head. "Maybe I did notice you at first because you were…are…beautiful, but it wasn't just the way you looked. You were sweet and kind to me and my friends, and you seemed so sad, but you never gave up no matter what. You knew you didn't have powers, or at least didn't know you did, but you joined us in our fight anyway. You were brave, and you took care of me that day in the Metarex caves, and…"

Tails continued to talk to Cosmo, stroking her head as he listed reasons why he cared about her. As he spoke, he thought she seemed a bit smaller. He was afraid to mention it in case he was mistaken, but as he kept talking to her the change became more and more obvious. She was definitely shrinking, but would she be all right? What if she returned to normal but…"

"C-cosmo?" he said softly, once she was about twice his size. "Are you all right?"

"I feel a little dizzy," she said. "Like…like I'm in an elevator…going down…I…"

"Yay!" Cream yelled, hugging her. "You're almost back to normal now, Cosmo!" She wrapped the coat around her friend. It nearly fit now.

Cosmo looked at herself, shocked. "I…I am?" She started crying again. "What's…what's happening to me?"

"It's okay, Cosmo," Amy assured her, fastening her coat. "You're yourself again. Whatever happened must have worn off."

"But…but will it happen again?" Cosmo asked. No one could answer her.

Tails and Cream helped her to her feet. She seemed shaky.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tails asked worriedly. "I think we should take you back to the Blue Typhoon and make certain."

Cosmo sighed. "I hate those machines," she admitted, "but I think you're right. I feel very tired right now."

Remembering how Cosmo had been a bit run down when she'd first come back, Tails started wondering what a change like this would have caused to her system. He picked her up in his arms and spun his tails. Cream picked up Amy and they followed him as he flew towards the ship's underground entrance.

…

Merlin had awakened feeling guardedly optimistic. Surely either the results of that test or the vouching of his nephew would finally get him out of this place. He needed to get back to his research, and of course to warn his nephew that the Metarex weren't completely extinct yet.

He'd heard nothing by breakfast, however, and as lunch approached he wondered if Tails' doctor was as competent as Tails had believed. And that homeless fellow…maybe he'd simply said he'd relay Merlin's message to humor him. Maybe he had thought Merlin was just a crazy old coot and absconded with his staff for good.

Merlin looked out the window yet again. Enough was enough! If he wasn't out of here today he was going to break out magically, staff or no staff! He didn't know how sick people could stand being here. He was perfectly well and being in this place was making him depressed. How Miles had dealt with it and gotten better, well, he had always been an exceptional individual.

He was heading towards the dining area when a nurse approached him. He hadn't seen much of her. She usually took care of the bad cases. About all he knew about the toucan was that her name was Joyce.

"Mister Prower?" she said. "Doctor Gantan would like to see you in her office."

Finally! Merlin thought. If she agreed to set him free, fine. If not…well, he'd take the bad news sadly but without complaint, then wait for the night when he could make his move in the dark. So much for playing by the rules. Well, he'd learned a long time ago that sometimes you just had to make your own way in life.

"Grandpa?" he heard as he hurried towards the doctor's office. He sighed and shook his head.

"Don't worry," he said, not looking at the hedgehog girl. "I'll find some way to get you out of this place."

"Yeah," Heather said, walking away. "Sure. I'll…see you…around…" Merlin shook his head sadly. She shouldn't be forced to remain here, but he certainly didn't know what should be done about her.

Merlin stepped into the doctor's office. He didn't say anything, but fought to keep his face blank, no matter what he was likely to hear.

"I just received a very interesting phone call, Mr. Prower," the doctor said once Merlin had sat down. "Your nephew, Amadeus, was worried about you."

Merlin sighed with relief. Finally, his family knew about his predicament. "Is he on his way here?" he asked. "Am I finally going to be able to leave your…lovely establishment?"

The doctor laced her fingers together. "Actually, that's a good question," she said. "You see, while he _is _on his way here, he's voiced some concern about the fact that you live alone at your age, Sir."

Merlin's face fell. Surely Amadeus wasn't going to say that he needed someone to take care of him? No, he was a hard man to deal with, but he wouldn't do something like that to the fellow that had helped him throughout his life, first as a boy, then with his military career through old contacts he'd made many years ago. Would he?

…

Tails took Cosmo back to the Blue Typhoon. She buried her head in his shoulder. Amy and Cream accompanied them but didn't say much.

"I'm sorry," Cosmo said. "I just seem to make one mistake after another."

"None of it was your fault," he assured her, as he hooked her up to several machines to check her vital statistics. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I threatened you! I would have hit you if Cream hadn't stopped me! I'm sorry, Cosmo! I'm a terrible boyfriend!"

"No, you're not," Cosmo told him, trying not to make a face as he worked. She really hated needles. "You didn't know…"

"I should have paid attention," Tails insisted. "Cream tried to tell me but I wouldn't listen. All I could think of was Red Pine had come to get you, and there was no way I was going to let that happen. I'd feel horrible if I'd actually hit you."

Cosmo looked away from him. "It would have bothered me," she said, "but your words hurt worse. Because you didn't know me! You looked at me and you didn't know me!" She cursed herself as she realized what she'd just said had to have hurt him badly.

"I'm sorry!" Tails sobbed. Cosmo started to apologize for upsetting him, but he kept talking. "All I could think of was someone had come to hurt you. To take you away from me again. I never would have thought that was you. I mean…I thought only the males of your people went through that change. I thought females became…"

"Trees?" Cosmo finished for him. "I thought so too." She turned and looked at him. "That transformation disturbs you as well, doesn't it?"

"Nobody I've ever known before had transformations," Tails admitted. "Not on many planets. Except for Sonic. And Shadow. But those changes were temporary and didn't hurt them."

"I know," Cosmo said, shutting her eyes. "I don't understand why my people have these transformations."

"It doesn't matter," Tails assured her. "Nothing can keep me from loving you."

Cosmo sighed. "Except your parents," she pointed out. "Your mother has forbidden me from seeing you. I didn't even meet your father, but I'm certain he'd say the same."

"I'm afraid you're right," he said, stroking her hair. "I was shocked when my mother told me what had happened! You wouldn't have run into Rouge if she hadn't thrown you out!"

"But she _did_ throw me out, Tails," Cosmo said limply. "And now we know that she was right!"

"No!" Tails cried. "Don't think that way, Cosmo!"

"You're better off forgetting about me," she said, shutting her eyes. "I only ever did one thing right in my entire life, and now I'm right back to where I was, making mistakes and losing my temper when I swore I wouldn't do that now that the Metarex are gone." She sighed. "Well…Red Pine is still out there, but…oh, I suppose he'll be showing up any minute now and making even more trouble for us!"  
"He'd better not!" Tails said. "Or you'll beat him up!"

Cosmo sobbed. "Oh, Tails! Don't even joke about something like that!"

Tails kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I…that was a really dumb thing for me to say, wasn't it?" He sighed. "I'm sorry, Cosmo. Sometimes I just talk because too much silence starts to get to me."

"I know," Cosmo said. "I do the same thing sometimes. And because I don't understand your people or your world very well, I end up sounding weird."

"Everybody feels like that sometimes, Cosmo," Tails assured her. "Well, maybe not Sonic, but then you never know what's going through _his _head."

As Tails had feared, Cosmo's readings were now worse than they had been before. Still not quite dangerous, but it was obvious the transformation had taken a toll on her body.

"Cosmo," he said once he'd gotten all of the readings, "I want you to promise me you'll never do that again. Please, Cosmo."

Cosmo shut her eyes. "I don't want to change again either," she assured him. "But what if I can't help it?"

"Your mom said it wouldn't happen as long as you wore one of those amulets," Amy pointed out.

Cosmo nodded. "Yes, that's true, Amy," she said, opening her eyes to look at her friend. "But my amulet shattered in the last battle with Dark Oak. That was what gave me the power to fly through his gravity shield and transform and immobilize him."

Tails cringed as he remembered the worst day of both of their lives. "Maybe…maybe we can find another one if we go to your planet," he suggested. "I can take you there…"

Cosmo sat up, nearly pulling the wires out of her arms. Cream got her to sit back. "You can't take me anywhere, Tails," she pointed out. "Don't you remember? Your mother has forbidden us to see each other. A trip back to my world would take too long. Your parents would be furious if you disappeared for that much time because of me."

"I don't care!" Tails cried. "Your safety is all that matters to me!"

"Calm down, Tails," Amy said. "I'll bet if _you_ were hooked up to the blood pressure machine it would be going crazy right now. We don't _know_ that will keep happening to Cosmo if she doesn't have one of those things." She looked back at the plant girl. "You must have gotten really furious. I never saw you do anything like that before."

Cosmo shut her eyes again. "I was very upset and angry," she admitted. "Perhaps the fake chaos emerald Rouge had sensed my anger and activated something in my DNA when I touched it, like the way that one planet egg once did."

"I think those fakes had something evil added to them by the Metarex," Tails said, checking Cosmo's vital statistics again. "They turned Sonic into something dark and frightening with a violent temper. Sonic never responded that way to the regular emeralds."

Amy nodded, looking scared. "He told me he felt like he wanted to smash everything he saw. _I've _felt that way, believe it or not." She looked around as if daring someone to say her losing her temper wasn't a surprise. "But Sonic is such an easy going guy. That wasn't at all normal for him. I think we should avoid having anything to do with fake emeralds from now on."

Cosmo nodded. "I never wanted to handle the regular ones," she said softly. She looked over at Tails. "Tails," she said, "I know you're concerned about me, and I've given you a lot of reasons to be, but you really need to go home now. Your parents will be very angry and I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I don't care what happens to me as long as you're okay, Cosmo!" Tails insisted. "And you need to rest."

"I'm just as concerned about you being all right," Cosmo told him. "And making your parents angrier about my influence on you won't help our cause. I know it's difficult for you, but Cream and Amy can take care of me, and I'll feel better if I know that you're okay."

"But Cosmo…" His brain knew she was right, but his heart wanted to argue. "How can I leave you when you're not feeling well?"

"I'm not ill," she assured him, smiling sadly at the fox she loved. "Just a little tired. I see now that nothing can destroy our feelings for each other. As Amy pointed out, you've seen me at my very worst, and you didn't turn away. That's the best medicine in the world for me. You didn't abandon me when you found out I was the creature you were attacking. You didn't say we should part because of what I'd become. You held me and said you'd stay with me even if I remained that way forever. Seeing me as a monster didn't change your feelings for me, and that makes me love you all the more. We're going to find a way to be together yet, Miles Prower."

Tails kissed her hand. "You're right, Cosmo," he said. "Nothing will keep us apart if we never give up our dreams. Thank you for reminding me of that."

"Thank you for reminding me of why I came back to you," Cosmo said.

They embraced, each knowing it might be the last time they'd be together for quite awhile.

"Tails?" Cream said. She and Amy had left the sick bay for awhile to allow Tails and Cosmo to talk in private, but after discussing how angry Tails' parents could get the two girls had returned to voice their concern. "You'd better get back home before your mom and dad send out a search party for you or something."

"I know, I know," Tails said. "Cosmo told me the same thing. But I hate to leave her now."

"Cream and I can take care of her," Amy assured him. Then her face grew serious. "But listen, I know you're really angry with your mother right now, but you have to make peace with her. She's never going to give Cosmo another chance if you turn against her."

Tails held his head. "I know," he said. "Cosmo told me that too. I got both of us into all of this mess because I let my emotions get away from me last year. Now I've got to repair the damage. But this isn't over. I'm not giving Cosmo up!"

"Of course you're not," Amy told him, patting his shoulder. "Your relationship has been beaten down and now you need to circle your wagons and protect yourself while you regroup and make plans for the next act of the game."

Tails blinked. "Uh…what?" Amy was mixing her metaphors again.

Amy laughed. "You're so cute when you're clueless," she said. "No wonder you found love so early in life. Now get out of here before your dad forms a search party and comes looking for you!"

Tails sighed. "Okay," he finally agreed. "Let me just say good bye to Cosmo."

"Let's give them a little privacy again, Amy," she said softly but firmly. "Just for a minute." Amy started to say something, then laughed.

"Wow, if you keep up the way you're going, Cream," she said, "you'll going to be the adult in our group!"

Not sure how to respond to that statement, Cream just shrugged and said, "Well, who knows?"

Tails left a few minutes later, asking Cream and Amy to make sure Cosmo got plenty of rest and stayed where she was for awhile. Once he was out of sight, they went back to check on her, only to find her sitting up and looking at the tubes in her arms.

As she heard them enter, Cosmo turned to them and asked, "Is Tails gone?"

Amy nodded. "But don't worry, Cosmo, he'll get in touch with us as soon as he can and we'll discuss what to do next."

"Well, I know one thing to do now," Cosmo said. "The two of you helped Tails with this equipment more than I did," she remembered. "I was always afraid I'd goof up and hurt someone worse than they were already injured."

"You shouldn't put yourself down like that, Cosmo," Cream said. Before she could say anything more, Cosmo interrupted her.

"I'm not, Cream," the plant girl assured her floppy eared friend. "It's just that, since I haven't had much practice with this sort of thing, and I'm the one that's hooked up to these things, I'm not really sure how to unhook myself."

"You sure you feel well enough already?" Cream asked. "Tails wanted you to stay here at least another hour or two."

"I feel tired and dizzy," Cosmo admitted, "and my mouth feels like it has cotton in it, but I'm not sick, and I never did like this place. Oh, please don't tell Tails I said that, but…"

"You want to get the heck out of here," Amy finished. "I'm sure Cream and her mother can take better care of you than some machines, anyway. Come on, Cream, let's unplug our friend."

"Ow!" Cosmo cried as Cream removed the device Tails had placed in the back of her left hand. "Oh, that hurts worse than anything else in this place!"

"Yeah, I don't like them either," Cream said.

"Nobody likes shots," Amy pointed out. "You sure you're okay, Cosmo?"

"I think so," the Seedrian said once she was completely free of the machines. "A little woozy, that's all."

"Sit down while we shut off the machines," Amy said. "Then we'll help you over to Cream's house."

"I'm so drained," Cosmo said, sitting down, her eyes half shut, "physically and emotionally, I think I just want to sleep when I get there."

The others looked at her with concern. "I'm okay," she assured them. "Just very tired. Don't worry. I've gotten through worse than this, you know."

Amy picked Cosmo up. "I'm going to carry you, until we're outside, then Cream's going to fly you to her place. No walking, young lady. Got it?"

"Got it," Cosmo said, closing her eyes again. "Thank you, both of you. I-I don't know what I'd do without such true friends."

"And you'll never have to find out," Cream promised her.

"Never," Amy agreed as she followed Cream towards the nearest exit.

…

Vanilla was very relieved and very concerned when the three girls returned. She ordered Cosmo to bed, but the Seedrian girl insisted on sitting in the windowsill in Cream's room.

"I appreciate what you're doing for me," Cosmo assured her. "But I feel better where I can feel the sun, even if it's not very warm this time of year."

Vanilla's response was to place a blanket and pillow on the windowsill and have Cosmo lay down there.

"Cream," she said, looking at her daughter, "could you watch her and make sure she doesn't roll over and fall on the floor?"

"Right," Cream said. "And I'll have Tails set up something here to keep her from falling."

Cosmo sighed and shut her eyes. "I'm afraid if his parents know I'm staying here they probably won't let him come over any more," she said sadly.

"Then we just won't tell them!" Amy said. "Of course, Tails might already have spilled the beans. I'll have to talk to him as soon as I can. We need to figure out a way for the two of you to keep seeing each other." Amy suddenly got an odd look on her face.

"She's coming up with something," Cream whispered to Cosmo. She'd become an expert at figuring out the pink hedgehog's moods and behavior.

Cosmo nodded. "I thought so," she whispered back. She'd noticed Amy get the same expression just before coming up with ideas while they had been in space. One could almost see the wheels in Amy's head moving when she thought.

"I have the perfect solution," Amy said, grinning. She helped Cosmo up and dragged her to the computer. "Okay, let's see…you'll need a username…" she said, pushing Cosmo down into the chair in front of the computer. "Hm…not something flower related, Tails' mother would figure out it was you. What do you like doing?"

"Uh…I enjoy swimming," Cosmo said, very confused. "I found when we were traveling through space that I really like to lay in the sun…"

"Swimming and basking in the sun," Amy said, rubbing her chin. "Sun and surf…I got it! What's a good way to enjoy water and sunlight at the same time?"

"Sit in a wading pool?" Cream suggested.

"Surfing!" Amy said.

"But I've only tried surfing a few times, and I had a lot of trouble keeping my balance on the board," Cosmo pointed out.

"So no one would suspect it was you!" Amy said triumphantly. "And you'll probably need a number after your name, because just about anything you come up with already has somebody using that name, the copycats!"

"But, Amy," Cream pointed out, "how can someone be a copycat if they came up with the idea first?"

"Don't confuse me with details!" Amy said. "Tails is eleven now, so you'd probably be too, if you didn't get some time lost…" She started typing: "Surfergirl11." She continued typing then clicked the Enter key. "There," she said, "now you're signed up. All we have to do now is get Tails to talk to you."

"But will his mother let him talk to a strange girl over this inner net?" Cosmo asked.

"Tails' mom always says he needs to play like other kids," Amy said, "and most kids love to chat over the internet. So I'm sure that shouldn't be a problem. Now I'll let Tails know that you're online."

Cosmo looked around. "I'm…on what?"

Amy started to respond, then said, "Nah. I'll let Tails explain to you. He's so much better at all that technobabble stuff than I am."

"But his parents will probably be expecting you to relay messages between Tails and me," Cosmo said. "Wait. Relay is the right word, isn't it?"

Amy patted the flower girl on her head. "Don't worry," she said. "Tails will be checking his phone for messages from or about you. I'll let him know what we have planned."

Cosmo looked down at her feet. "Even if it works," she said softly, "it won't really be the same as being with Tails in person."

Amy placed her hand on Cosmo's chin and lifted it so that the Seedrian was looking at her. "It won't be for too long," she assured her. "I'll talk to Tails and Sonic and Knuckles. We'll figure out some way to get Tails' parents to change their minds about you. It might take awhile, but they'll come around eventually."

"How do you know this, Amy?" Cosmo asked. "I mean, that's what I said to Tails to keep his spirits up, but I don't think he really believed it and I certainly don't know if I can or not."

"The fact you came back showed it's fate that the two of you will be together forever," Amy said. "Remember when you both walked into my trap and fell in the Lake of Love? It forged a bond between the two of you that is eternal."

"I hope you're right," Cosmo said. "I really do."

Amy looked Cosmo right into the eyes. "Do you believe in love?"

"What?" Cosmo asked. "I-yes. Yes I do."

"Then hold onto your love and believe in the two of you," Amy insisted. "You're not alone, Cosmo. I'm on your side. So is Cream. And we're not the only ones."

Cosmo suddenly threw her arms around the hedgehog. "Thank you, Amy!" she sobbed. "Even if they catch on, perhaps Tails and I will have a little more time together."

"And that will give me more time to think of another solution," Amy assured her, hugging the plant girl back.

"If there is one…" Cosmo said sadly.

Amy put her finger where Cosmo's nose would be. "Ah ah ah," she said. "None of that negative thinking. Really, Cosmo, sometimes I don't think you'd be happy if you weren't worrying about something."

Cosmo started to protest then shut her eyes. "Maybe you're right, Amy," she admitted. "I keep promising I'll do better, but then I fall back into old habits." She shook her head. "I have no idea why I followed Rouge. I guess…I guess she was right. I didn't want to see my friends, or Tails, when I was a wreck. Tails' mother hurt me so much, I…I didn't really care if Rouge hurt me at the time. But now, I'm starting to feel hopeful again."

"You just keep feeling that way," Amy told her.

"Yeah!" Cream said. "You know, feeling sad can actually make you sick!"

Cosmo nodded. "All right," she said. "I hate to wait to find out if this works, but Tails is going to need to spend some time alone with his parents to get them to start to trust him again." She looked at her friends. "Thank you so much," she said. "Now…when I talk to Tails over this in net, what should I say?"

Amy put her arm around the younger girl. "Don't worry," she said, "I can tell you everything you'd want to know about flirting and dating."

"That's…wonderful…" Cosmo said, hoping Amy actually did know more than a girl who had been chasing a guy for years and getting nowhere would seem to know. Well, how bad could Amy's suggestions be?

…

Tails took a deep breath as he opened the door to his house. He was absolutely furious at his mother now, but he knew that yelling at her would just make things worse. The problem was that the way he felt he was afraid to say anything to her at all for fear he might lose it.

Of course, his mother had no such trouble speaking to him.

"Well, Miles, are you finished running around after that girl and upsetting your poor old mother?" Rosemary Prower demanded.

Tails looked away, clenching his teeth and taking in a deep breath. "How could you do that to her?" he asked, forcing himself not to raise his voice. "You broke her heart!"

"It's for the best, dear," Rosemary said, taking his arm and leading him to the couch. "Now sit down here and Mommy will get you some hot chocolate. You must be cold after running around in the snow."

_But you don't care if Cosmo was cold, _he thought. _Or that she could have been very badly hurt! _He decided he'd drink her hot chocolate then say he was tired and needed to go to bed. That would give him a chance to make contact with Cosmo. Make sure she was all right. He hated having to pretend nothing was wrong when his mind was in such turmoil. Thank goodness that change hadn't been permanent! Now he just hoped she'd be able to forget that awful experience. He looked at his communicator. He'd put it on after taking her back to sickbay. He cursed himself. He'd promised himself he wouldn't let her end up back in the medical clinic again. She obviously hadn't wanted to stay there, and while he was still worried sick about her, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to lay in bed with machines beeping around her.

Rosemary poured him some hot chocolate and patted his head, then sat down next to him and looked down at him. He forced himself not to glare at her and was surprised to see she wasn't glaring at him. In fact, she looked concerned.

"I know you feel right now that Mommy has done something to hurt you, precious," she said, smiling sadly at him, "but you're much too young to be going out with girls anyway. When you're older we'll find a nice young lady from a good family for you. In the meantime, you should be doing all the things little boys do. Why, do you know that when your father was your age, he thought girls were yucky? Yes he did. And you know, I didn't think much better about boys, dear. Loud, rude ruffians that liked to dare each other to do all kinds of crazy things. I remember when I first saw your father. He was hanging out with a group of simply dreadful boys…"

Tails sighed and took a sip of his hot chocolate. This sounded like the beginning of a long, long story. And he'd probably get another when his father came home.

_I'm sorry, Cosmo. I hope you'll be all right, because I don't think I'll be able to check on you any time soon. _

And he was right.

…

Rouge landed near an old building. There was a number "5" written on the front of it, not that she cared. She was furious, at Cosmo, yes, but also at herself. For some reason being around that alien brought out the worst in her. And today she'd seen that the reverse was true.

"How was I supposed to know she'd turn into a dragon?" she muttered, jimmying the lock. "What kind of weird freaks of nature are those plant things, anyway, turning into trees and reptiles? Well, let's see if there's anything good in this place to cart off."

The bat stepped into the warehouse and looked around. She didn't try to turn on the lights. She had excellent night vision, and pushing switches in a mad scientist's building was just asking for trouble.

Her footsteps echoed in the large building. She flapped her wings and rose about a foot off the floor. Luckily there weren't enough boxes or equipment in the place to risk bumping into, even in the gloom.

Rouge stopped in front of a large crate. Maybe there was something valuable in here. She began to pry off the lid. It came loose suddenly, clearly not fastened on properly. She moved the lid partway off of the crate and peered inside. Dim light from the windows reflected off of something that shined briefly, and she jumped back with a cry.

A robot! No doubt one of Eggman's rejects. Well, nothing useful to her. She turned away. If that was all that was in this place, then she was wasting her time here.

Or was she? Rouge didn't know much about robots, certainly not enough to reprogram one to obey her. But there were other mechanics besides the whiny fox and the plump lump.

Rouge removed the lid and set it down cautiously, even though she would have enjoyed dropping it and hearing its crash echo in the empty building. She noticed some wires were hanging loose. Sonic would have ripped them out, so it seemed likely Eggman had disconnected them for some reason. She wondered if she could reactivate it just by hooking the wires up.

She wasn't really sure why she was trying to get the robot working again. For all she knew, Eggman could have shut it off because it had gone haywire and attacked everything it saw. But then, taking a closer look, she saw that it wasn't exactly in tip top condition. Probably got banged up badly by Sonic and his friends. Besides, she could take care of herself. Usually, at least. The thought that Cosmo of all people had caused her to panic and flee the area galled her. Before the plant girl had just irritated her a bit. Now she really wanted to teach that prissy little brat a lesson.

"Last wire," she realized. Did she really want to see what would happen if she reconnected it? Meh, why not? She plugged it in, cautiously watching as the robot's eyes turned on. Then she jumped back with a cry as its arms began spinning in circles. An attack? If it was, it was a clumsy one. The robot staggered, shaking as if it were about to fall apart. It turned towards her. Rouge prepared to fly away.

"Where is he?" it said in a flat voice. Did it mean Sonic? Eggman?

"Um…hi," she said. "I'm Rouge. And who might you be, big boy?"

"This unit is E Series 123, Codenamed Omega," the robot said. "Primary mission: Destroy Shadow the Hedgehog. Mission failure."

"I'm not surprised," Rouge said. "Shadow's a whole lot more powerful than he looks."

"Affirmative," the robot agreed. "This unit's primary mission now is revenge."

"So you're going after Shadow once you're repaired?" Rouge asked, not planning to hang around. It was in no condition to fight Shadow, so he was in no danger. Sure, it might go wild through town, but that wasn't her problem. And sooner or later Sonic would hear about it and finish the thing off. She prepared to leave it. Its next words, however, stopped her.

"Negative. Primary mission is now revenge against master that betrayed this unit," Omega said. "Statement: Eggman must be punished!"

Rouge grinned. Now this was an interesting new development. "Listen, big guy," she said, "I think we have a lot to talk about…"

…

Cosmo waited nervously. Would Amy's idea work? Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Tails' parents already hated her. They couldn't hate her any worse, could they?

"Oh, by the way, Cosmo," Amy suddenly said. "When you talk to him, try to sound like somebody else."

Cosmo blinked. "I…beg your pardon?" she said.

"You're always so polite and so unsure of yourself," Amy explained.

"You…want me to be rude to Tails?" Cosmo asked, now really confused.

"No, no, no," Amy said, shaking her head. "I want you to be more confident and less formal. Kids on the web usually aren't all that bright. Say 'ain't' a lot."

"But my mother said 'ain't' isn't a nice thing to say, Amy," Cream pointed out.

"Exactly why Cosmo should say it," Amy insisted. "Because she wouldn't."

"I…should say something because I wouldn't say it?" Cosmo said. "Huh?"

Amy sputtered. "You should say it because it's not the sort of thing you'd say," she pointed out. "You were very polite to Tails' mother, right? So she'd be expecting you to be very polite in your messages."

"Now we're back to me being rude again…" Cosmo said, holding her head.

"Cosmo," Amy said, starting to get a bit annoyed, "being naïve and innocent is cute up to a point, but then it starts to get annoying!"

"I'm sorry, Amy," Cosmo said.

"Didn't we already have this talk about apologizing too much?" the hedgehog demanded.

"I'm sorry," Cosmo said. "I mean…sorry…oh, there I go again." She turned away from her friends and looked at the wall. "I do the same thing when I'm talking to Tails. He's so smart, and I have trouble thinking of things to say. What if I start boring him?"

"What if the moon were made of green cheese?" Amy said. "What if you could walk on clouds? Stop worrying about things that aren't going to happen, you silly goose."

Cosmo hung her head. "You're right," she said softly. "I should worry about things that might happen, like Tails' parents finding out I'm Surfergirl11 or Red Pine showing up and attacking us…  
"You're depressed right now because of what happened today," Amy told her, patting the plant girl on the head. "Don't worry, you'll feel much better after the slumber party." She turned to the bunny. "Come on, Cream! Help me clear the furniture out of the way so we can put our sleeping bags down on the floor."

"I'll help, Amy," Cosmo offered, placing her hands on the sofa and pushing. Somehow, the sofa remained where it was while Cosmo's bare feet slid backwards until she lost her balance and fell on the floor.

"Oh, Cosmo, honestly," Amy said, clicking her tongue, "how can you possibly be so weak?"

"Uh…too much junk food?" Cosmo suggested.

"That _would_ explain the big caboose," Amy kidded.

Cosmo colored. "You think I'm _fat_?" she cried.

"I'm joking, Cosmo," Amy said. "Try not to take everything so seriously."

Cosmo shook her head. "It's very difficult not to take everything seriously," she said softly, "when serious things keep happening to you."

"Well, at least things can't get worse," Amy said.

Cream cringed. "Please don't say that, Amy," she begged. "It's bad luck."

"Oh, that's just an old wives' tale," Amy insisted, moving the couch easily. "Trust me, both of you, from now on things can only get better."

"I hope you're right, Amy," Cosmo said, moving a lamp. "I certainly hope you are."

…

Some miles away, a small pink ship approached the planet, its cloaking device blocking detection by Nicole. Perhaps if Tails had given the computer system information he'd gained while developing his own cloaking device, as well as the special sensors he developed while fighting the Metarex, Nicole might have detected it. It would be yet one more thing that would weigh on Tails' conscious in the future.

The ship landed quietly. It's lights shut off. The door opened. A tiny figure stepped out, wearing a Seedrian outfit, complete with amulet. Her hair was green, the result of recent dyeing that she hadn't cared at all for. She looked around. "This place is cold and ugly!" she said, making a face. "I hope I don't have to stay here long. Why couldn't Daddy have sent me down to a warm planet with lots of trees in bloom? Those all look like they'd died." She walked up to a tree and touched it. _Hey! Wake up! _ The tree gave the equivalent of a yawn and went back to sleep.

"You're stupid!" Pink Andromeda cried, making a face at the tree. "You're no fun to play with! Pbbbttt!"

"Please pay attention to your mission, Princess," came a voice from her wrist. She looked down at the

device she was wearing. It was similar in appearance to the communicators Tails had made for his friends, but with hidden differences.

"I am!" Andromeda said. "Don't yell at me!"

"I'm not yelling," Willow said. "Just remember that your father will be angry if you don't succeed."

"I know that!" the girl said. "Don't treat me like I'm stupid! Now go 'way!" She clicked a button, releasing a glowing red light that hit a snow bank. The snow evaporated, not into water but into a thin mist. "Whoops. Wrong button."

"Please be careful with that," Willow said. "You could hurt yourself with that laser attachment. I still don't think it's necessary. You're not supposed to battle here…"

"You worry too much," Andromeda said. "I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot or nothing! And you watch out or I'll tell Daddy you're disagreeing with something he decided! Blah!" She crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the image of the Metarex.

"Oh, what a lovely face," Willow said with a sigh. "Why can't you be a good little girl?"

"Because it's more fun being a bad little girl," Andromeda said with a smirk. She pressed another button. This time the picture clicked off. "You never want me to have any fun! Well, now you can't stop me so pbbbttt on you!"

The little Seedrian looked around again. Now, which way would lead her to some animals? She grinned. She was going to really enjoy her daddy's newest assignment! Auntie Cosmo would never know what hit her!

…

Will Amy's plan work? Will Merlin ever get out of Happy Acres? And what has Red Pine sent Pink Andromeda to do? Maybe we'll find out next time.


	15. Chapter 15: Compounding Problems

AFTER THE METAREX

Chapter Fifteen

"Compounding Problems"

Cosmo sat nervously in the window, waiting for Amy or Cream to tell her that they'd gotten a message from Tails. Admittedly, she really was exhausted, and despite emptying an entire pitcher of water Cream had brought her, her throat still felt like she had been eating cotton. Maybe she should have stayed on the Blue Typhoon a bit longer, but she couldn't stand being hooked up to those machines. It made her think too much of when Knuckles had shattered Yellow Zelkova's armor, and she'd seen all of the tubes and wires that had connected him to his metal suit. She never wanted to be reliant on something artificial. Maybe that was why, despite the possibility she might transform again, she was in no hurry to go to her home planet and try to find another amulet. Look at Sonic. While chaos emeralds greatly increased his physical abilities, he wasn't dependent on them to lead a normal life.

But what _was_ normal for her people? She'd never seen what life had been like on Greengate. She'd heard stories about her home planet before the war, but it wasn't the same as actually being there. And going there now wouldn't help since there was no one to ask. She would be the only going home.

_That's so sad, _she thought, looking up at the sky. _No more Seedrians. Just me. And Red Pine. And…and that's all…_

…

Pink Andromeda walked up to the market and stepped inside. This place looked boring. Lots of the animals here, she noticed. Had Cosmo been here already? While the dyed green hair bunched up over the single flower bud on her head, plus the fake pink roses Willow had set into her hair, made her look more than she liked to admit like her hated Aunt Cosmo, Andromeda was considerably shorter, so she couldn't let anyone get too good a look at her.

She came across some sort of bin containing round red objects, a large number of them, piled on top of each other. Some sort of plant. Animals collecting plants for food. Well, they did smell pretty good. Andromeda looked around. A few female animals were pushing some sort of wire cart about. Looked silly. Whistling, Andromeda walked up to the bin and casually pulled one of the round objects out of the bin. From near the bottom.

Darn! Nothing happened. Well, once more. She pulled a second plant loose. As she'd hoped, this time many of the round objects fell, bouncing off the top of the bin and falling onto the floor, where they rolled around. One ended up right by the foot of a reptilian creature. She crossed her fingers then grinned as he stepped on it, waved his arms about to try to keep his balance, then fell backwards, grabbing at a second reptile for support. The two of them went down with loud thuds. Some sort of giant flying insect began to laugh at them.

Andromeda hurried away from the scene. She wanted to cause trouble, not get caught at it. She ran down the aisle in the opposite direction of the trio she'd been watching, and because of this she wasn't caught by three people that actually knew her aunt and might have completely ruined her plans.

Vector picked himself up off the floor. "What the heck just happened?" he demanded. He looked down at the scattered apples all over the floor. "Hmm…very interesting…"

"What's interesting about some inconsiderate idiot making a mess in the market, Vector?" Espio demanded, getting up and brushing himself off.

"Boy, you guys should have seen your faces!" Charmy said. "Vector was like 'Ahhh!' and then he knocked you down, Espio, and you were like 'Oh no!' and then plop, plop, you both fell on the floor! Hey, can you guys do it again?"

"Don't make jokes about this," Vector said. "People will think we had something to do with…"

"Hey! You! The big green guy!" Vector cringed. It was the store manager. "I might have known it was you three!"

"You misunderstand, my good man," Vector said, turning towards the speaker, a jaguar with a perfectly trimmed mustache. He waved his hand, indicating the apples lying scattered all around them. "I'm a victim of circumstance! You see, my partners and I were on our way back from a grueling and baffling mystery, and we stopped here for some shopping to replenish our pantry, and…"

"Pick up those apples, wise guy," the manager said, glaring at the croc, "then get out! And I don't want to see you three in here again!"

"Now see here," Vector said, placing his hands on his hips. "I think you're allowing a bit of authority to go to your head, and…"

Espio grabbed Vector's arm. "Let's just do it and go, Vector," he said with a sigh.

Charmy picked up an apple and tossed it at the bin. It hit the edge, bounced off, and shot right towards the back of the manager's head. Espio's eyes grew wide as he leaped forward and caught it in mid-air.

The manager spun around. "This isn't a basketball court!" he said. He glared at Espio. "I'm watching you guys! Now get to work!" He stormed away, looking furious.

"I think it might be a good idea if we hurried and were out of here before he gets back," Vector said, stooping to get the apple he had stepped on.

As the Chaotix started picking up apples, Espio glared at Charmy. "Do you have any idea how much worse this would have been if you'd beaned the manager?"

"Serves him right!" Charmy said, carefully placing two apples onto the slowly growing pile. "It's bad enough getting punished for something you did do, without meanies punishing you for something you didn't do! We oughtta sue!"

"We wouldn't have gotten the blame if you hadn't knocked over that display of canned beans last month," Vector complained to the bee.

"You were chasing me," Charmy reminded the croc.

"You called me crazy!" Vector pointed out. Two more apples were added to the bin.

"Your point being?" Charmy asked, crawling under a counter to get an apple that had rolled under there. "Got it! Ow!" He had tried to stand up, forgetting where he was.

"No use hiding," Vector said, "I saw you go in there."

"You sure got a rare brain, Vector," the bee said, crawling out from under the counter and returning the apple to the bin.

Once they were finished, Vector said, "Okay, let's get out of here before that creep comes back and makes us buy all those bruised apples."

"But what about the candy we were gonna get?" Charmy asked, looking heartbroken.

"You're hyper enough already without eating all that sugar," Vector said. He turned towards the chameleon. "Espio. Check to see if the coast is clear. I don't want to run into that big goon again."

Espio and Charmy motioned to Vector. "What?" he said. "This is a fine time for charades, you guys. Anyway, like I was saying, we should get lost before that big ugly goon shows up again."

The bee facepalmed. "It was nice knowing you, Vector," he said.

Vector motioned over his shoulder towards the door. "I said let's get out of here," he said, hitting something with his elbow. He turned around. "Oh, excuse me, Mister, I…" he stopped as he realized he'd just bumped into the manager. He noticed the jaguar's red shirt now had a smudge of the dust Vector had picked up while gathering apples. He blew on it and tried rubbing it off with his dusty glove, the result, of course, being that the smudge smeared all over his shirt.

"You oughtta complain to your drycleaner, buddy," he said, running past the manager for the door.

"Hey!" the jaguar yelled, turning towards Vector. "Get back here!"

"Gotta go!" Charmy said, flying over the manager's head. The jaguar jumped up, grabbing the bee's foot.

"Get back down here, you!" he yelled. "I'm not through with you guys yet!"

Realizing things had gotten even worse, Espio had turned invisible and moved silently around the manager, following in Vector's wake.

It wasn't necessary. The manager probably wouldn't have noticed if Espio had performed a tap dance. At the moment, he was hanging on for dear life as Charmy flew towards the ceiling of the market, which had to be nearly twenty feet.

"Put me down this instant!" he yelled at the bee. As they passed a display of toilet paper, he dropped onto the rolls, hoping they'd break his fall. Unfortunately, beneath the paper was a display of bread. He could feel dozens of loaves go flat as he landed on them.

"I'm gonna get you guys!" he yelled as Charmy joined the others in hurrying out the door.

Andromeda had watched most of this from around the corner, laughing until her sides ached. But then she remembered she was supposed to be getting Cosmo in trouble, not these weird guys. Looking around, she saw a display of different colored bottles. No, she realized, picking one up, the bottles were clear, there was liquid of different colors inside of them. She tried to pull the lid off. What the? Why didn't it work? She pulled harder, then squeezed the lid in disgust. It turned a little. So that was how you opened them! She twisted the lid until it came off in her hand. She looked at the lid a moment, then tossed it over her shoulder. She held the bottle close to where her nose would be if she had one and took a sniff. Smelled good. She took a drink. Sticky red punch poured down her outfit, but she paid no attention to it. Not bad.

"Hey!" she heard the manager yell. He had finally noticed her. "Another one, huh? You're buying that bottle, kid!"

"I don't want it!" she said, tossing it to him. "You have it!" Naturally, since the lid was off, punch poured out all over the floor. "Oopsie!" she said. Then she pulled her right eye lid down, crossed her eyes, and stuck out her tongue. "Blah!"

The manager's face was purple as he started towards her. He slipped on the spilled punch and fell on the floor. Laughing, Andromeda ran towards the checkout counter, bounced off the heads of a couple of shoppers, and was out the door before the manager could get back on his feet.

Outside the store, Andromeda looked around. Darn. The three silly guys were gone. But at least now she knew this cold planet could be fun. Now, what other mean things could she do to pin on her stupid Auntie Cosmo?

…

Tails was in his room, brooding, when he heard his father come home. He decided to remain where he was. Trying to be pleasant now was a strain that he just didn't want to face and that his father would probably see through. He thought he heard his father say something about Uncle Merlin, but wasn't really paying attention. With his door closed, only a few words came through here and there anyway.

Tails looked up at the ceiling. He hadn't heard from his uncle in a long time. He should probably try to get in touch with him, maybe tomorrow or the next day. He just didn't feel like doing much of anything at the moment. Still, it would be interesting to see the wizard's reaction to hearing Cosmo was alive again.

Tails shut his eyes. After all this time separated, he and Cosmo had finally just started to be together again, and now they'd been split up once more. It wasn't fair. Cosmo deserved a lot better than what she was getting. She was a hero. Even if his parents didn't like her they should have respected his wishes and been happy he was seeing someone that had saved their world, not to mention countless others. But he supposed all they could see was that Cosmo didn't fit in with their crowd. As if Tails cared about things like that.

Tails wanted to check on Cosmo, but he suspected his father would want to talk to him any minute, and he didn't want to be caught disobeying his mother's orders. Again. It seemed like everything they did made him unhappy, and that was a terrible way to think about his own parents.

Realizing if he was found just lying in bed with the light off his mother would think he was sick and probably call a doctor, he got up and turned the light on. He supposed he could do a bit of work on those shoes he'd mentioned to his parents. Not that he felt like making the mental effort necessary to really come up with something useful, but maybe he could develop the germ of an idea and gradually work it over in his mind until it led to something he could use at a later date.

And of course he could always just fake calculating something while he really tried to figure out how to see Cosmo again.

He had been working for awhile when his mother suddenly opened the door to his room and called softly, "Miles? Supper's ready, dear."

Supper already? Tails looked out his window. The sun had set. He put his notes away carefully. He hadn't managed to come up with anything to do about Cosmo yet, except, if all else failed, take the Blue Typhoon and disappear with her, where exactly he wasn't sure yet, but surprisingly he _had_ managed to think of a few ideas for those shoes. Whether they would work he'd have to test later. It would at least be something to keep him from worrying for a little while.

Tails followed his mother into the kitchen, nodded to his father, then sat down and waited. General Prower looked like he had something he wanted to say.

"Miles," his father said slowly, "I know that you're fond of your uncle Merlin, but…"

Tails jumped up. "Did something happen to him?" he asked. "Is he okay?" With his parents missing for much of his life, he and his uncle had become very close.

His parents exchanged looks. Uncle Merlin had been gone for so long. Had they just found out that he was…no, not Uncle Merlin…

"He's uninjured," his father assured him.

"That's a relief," Tails said, sitting down again at his mother's urging. "Then what's wrong

There was a pause before he got a reply. "He's in…Happy Acres…" his father said at last.

"He's _what_?" Tails cried. He was so shocked by such an odd bit of news that he tipped his chair over backwards, landing on the floor with a clunk.

…

In the sanitarium the individual they were speaking of was sitting on the bed in his room, trying to remain calm. Losing his temper wasn't good for him. But the very idea that Amadeus would even consider leaving him here, it was unimaginable!

He got up and began to pace his room. Here he'd put up with all of this nonsense, certain that his family would get him out of this place once they discovered where he was, and now he found out Amadeus was wondering if he belonged here? "I'm not senile yet!" he said angrily.

"So are you finally ready to use your magic to bust out of here?" came a voice from the doorway.

"How long have you been there, Heather?" he asked, sitting back down and staring at the cane in his hands. He'd probably never get his staff back now. And it took so much time and effort to create a new one…

"Long enough," the hedgehog girl said. She sat down beside him. "Your family doesn't want you around either, huh? Yeah, I know that feeling." She leaned her head back against the wall and shut her eyes.

Merlin didn't answer her question, but he decided that if he didn't hear from Amadeus by the next morning he was going to, as she'd put it, "bust out." He didn't tell her this because he knew she'd beg him to take her with him, and he didn't want to put her in that sort of trouble. They'd be fugitives from a mental hospital, and Princess Sally would probably have them tracked down and brought back. Possibly by Sonic. Perhaps even with Miles' aid. The last thing Merlin wanted was to put Miles in the situation of having to do something he hated to someone he cared about again. Not after what had happened to him last year with that poor plant girl. Speaking of whom, he wondered if that plant of hers was still all right? Since no one would listen to him about that robot he'd battled to protect it, there was the possibility that more had arrived to attack it. And Miles. Blast it! Amadeus couldn't even have bothered to tell him whether Miles was all right or not! If he was then no doubt the plant was well, since he was certain the boy would fall apart if something were to happen to it.

_I've never felt so completely useless or helpless in my life, _he thought bitterly. Sure, he'd never been a leader in life. Always let someone else, usually Chuck, run things for him while he thought over options. Seemed like he spent most of the years thinking about what he was going to do or should have done rather than actually doing those things.

He sighed and started going over his mind again exactly how he might escape. The simplest way would be to just force the door outside open then force the lock on the gate. That wouldn't take too much energy, although he'd probably have to stop a few of the employees from stopping him, especially that unpleasant fellow that seemed to think the patients were here as a punishment. As much as he'd like to deal with him, that would only make him look crazier and violent. Hm…perhaps he could come up with some way to embarrass him. Make him look incompetent at his job. Of course, he still hoped that he'd be able to talk Amadeus into getting him out legally, but if not…He'd have to think about this long and hard before making any sort of decision.

…

Tails closed the door to his room then took out his phone. He knew he needed to do something about getting Uncle Merlin out of Happy Acres, but unless he wanted to break him out he'd have to wait until his father went to see him in the morning. Tails shuddered at the memories of that place. True, Dr. Gantan had helped him get his head back on straight, but being there had not been a pleasant experience by any stretch of the imagination. He clenched his fists a moment, then opened his hands, surprised that thinking of that place still affected him so. His uncle was old and might be weak in body, but he was strong in will and could handle the place until he could get him out of there. He needed to try to deal with his own problem for now, at least the best he could.

He pressed a button on the phone and a pale green light appeared on the screen. He climbed into bed and pulled his blanket over his head so that the light couldn't be seen from the doorway. Now to text Amy. As much as he wanted to speak with Cosmo, his parents were bound to hear so texting would be safer. Let's see…Amy called herself PinkPrincess. And there was a message from her. But…Surfergirl11? Who was that? Curious, he clicked the message.

"Hi! Missing you!" That was the entire message. Who could it be? Good grief! What if it was that crazy Ginger girl, stalking him now? Should he tell her off or just delete the message and hope she got bored and started bothering someone else?

Not sure of what to do, he decided to check Amy's message before replying. Maybe she'd know what to do about this Surfergirl11.

Amy's message, however, was baffling. All it said was "Sometimes a girl has to surf a long long way to find the right boy."

What the…?

Tails looked back at Sufergirl11's message again. Could it be? But he didn't want to lead on the wrong person. He went back to Amy's message and responded: "Do surfers enjoy basking in the sun a lot?"

He waited for a reply, feeling a bit silly. But if it was Cosmo, he didn't want to give too much away in case his parents found his phone and figured out how to get messages from it. Well, maybe he could put a lock on it, make it necessary to enter a code to access it.

Amy's message was enigmatic. "Surfers get a sinking feeling around robots." Tails blinked. Say what? How did that make any…

Then he remembered the humanoid robot that Bocoe and Decoe caught Cosmo with on planet Zecco. They had threatened her and started to crush her, then dropped her. She had cried out and Knuckles had caught her. Wait. Why had she _needed_ to be caught? Why hadn't she just floated…unless her skirt had gotten bunched around her legs and she wasn't able to get it unfurled fast enough. He remembered he'd asked her before they took off for space how she floated the way she did. She had seemed surprised, like it was something she didn't even think about, and had asked, "Can't your people do that?" Dimly he remembered his first clumsy attempts at flying. He'd crashed into a fence, luckily not injuring himself as he'd landed in a large mud puddle. He'd been disappointed it hadn't worked right, but surprised when he later learned that the rest of his family, not to mention most people that he met, couldn't fly at all. One of the reasons he and Cream had hit it off so well was that she was one of the very few individuals he'd encountered that could, although her ability to do so by flapping her ears was very different from his strange and frankly when he thought about it somewhat embarrassing way of levitating.

Tails looked back at Amy's message, then switched back to Surfergirl11's. What to say now? If it was Cosmo, he didn't want to keep her waiting, but a response was going to take some thought.

…

Colin rolled his eyes as he tuned out the redhead's continued conversation. Never in his life had he heard someone talk so much and say so little.

"So then we found this secret Chao garden…whoops! We weren't supposed to say anything about that! Anyway, another time I remember Sonic kept running and running and he couldn't stop. Seems he'd gotten some kind of chip or something from one of Eggman's inventions in his ear, and it was making him act all crazy. Oh, but not as crazy as we thought when he started attacking those lights Eggman made, remember, back when he blotted out the sun and said it was an accident and he couldn't do anything about it? But it seems Sonic had figured out that he was blotting out the sun on purpose and…"

This girl's train of thought wasn't just getting repeatedly derailed, it was jumping from track to track and taking a detour through the subway and the airfield.

"Yes, yes, that's very fascinating, I'm sure," Colin said, breaking in on her monologue at last. "Did Sonic have any favorite phrases he liked to say?"

Frances giggled. "Well," she said, thinking, "I never understood what he meant, but sometimes he'd say, 'I gotta juice!' And also 'Let's do it to it!' Oh, and when he got impatient, he'd tap his foot and say, 'I'm wai-ting!' And I remember one time he smashed one of that fat old guy's robots and said, 'Did I do that?' So yeah, Sonic had a lot of phrases he loved. He also loved chili dogs. Chris said when they first met he tried to give Sonic crickets, and Sonic was like, 'No way! Gross, dude!'" She spoke with a deep voice when trying to imitate Sonic.

"That's very interesting," Colin said, wondering now how he could get away from her and her constant chattering. She'd presented him with too many possibilities. Any one of them, or none at all, could be the code he was looking for. There seemed nothing to do now but wait and try to con it out of young Thorndyke. He rolled his eyes as she continued. Why was she still talking?

"Uh…didn't you have to go somewhere today?" he said when she stopped to take a breath.

"Oh, right!" Frances said., standing up. "I have to see my friend, Helen, and buy some clothes for the ski trip next week. Do you ski? It's a lot of fun as long as you avoid the trees."

"Um, yes," Colin said. "Well, why don't you take care of that, Miss?"

Frances looked surprised. "But aren't you injured?" she asked. "Shouldn't I call you a doctor or something?"

"I'm sure I'll be all right," Colin said, getting up and limping a little. "See? It's much better."

Now Frances looked confused. "Funny," she said, staring at his feet, "I thought it was the other one I ran over. Guess I'm not very observant, huh? Not like a detective would be. Hey, you ever seen this big goofy crocodile that thought he was a detective? He was really funny, but he had a tendency to talk to himself for some reason…and he'd just go on and on and on sometimes. Don't you just hate it when people do that?"

"Mm…yes, quite so…" Colin agreed, rolling his eyes. He resolved that the next time he decided to question someone he'd do otherwise.

…

"Amy!" Cosmo cried. "He's responded! Now what do I do?"

"Answer him back!" Amy said, rushing over to see what Tails had said. She snorted at the noncommittal "Good to hear from you." Did he actually not get he was speaking with Cosmo? No, he couldn't really be that dense.

"What do I say?" Cosmo asked.

"What would you normally say?" Amy demanded.

Cosmo considered this a moment, then typed, "It is wonderful to speak again with you as well."

Amy pulled the flower girl's hand away from the mouse. "Okay. Now let's change that so it doesn't sound like you. Let's see…'Good to see you too, cutie.'"

Cosmo gasped. "I can't call Tails that!" she said. "And I'm not seeing him. I'm only reading what he types on a machine."

"You take things too technically," Amy insisted. "And it's precisely because you wouldn't call Tails Cutie that you _will _call Tails Cutie! Now, what else wouldn't you say?"

"I have to go to the bathroom right now," Cosmo told her.

"You're starting to get the general idea," Amy said, "but Tails doesn't need to know that."

"No," Cosmo said, shaking her head. "I really do have to go to the bathroom."

Amy facepalmed. "Sheesh, what a brain," she muttered. "Okay, go ahead."

As Cosmo hurried out of the room, Amy considered what else to put in the message. Ah! Got it!

"I'm glad to hear you're not seeing that strange girl anymore. She sounded boring." Tails wasn't going to like this at all, but surely he'd realize the best way to keep his parents from suspecting this Surfergirl11 was Cosmo would be if she insulted the plant girl. Well, he was highly emotional, but he wasn't stupid.

…

Tails waited for the response, wondering what she might say. How he should answer. This was nerve-wracking! When the next message came he was shocked.

"Good to see you too, cutie. I'm glad to hear you're not seeing that strange girl anymore. She sounded boring." B-b…That couldn't possibly be Cosmo! She would never talk like that!

He started to reply angrily, but while thinking of a scathing response it occurred to him that Cosmo might be saying the opposite of what she'd normally say to make it seem like it wasn't her. Oh man, this was confusing! Now what? Maybe he should speak with Amy again.

"I need to talk to you," he sent. He waited for a reply. When it came, it confused him again.

"Expect a call," the message said. A call from Cosmo? Or from Amy? What kind of game was the pink hedgehog playing? She always got carried away with everything she did. Tails remembered last year when she dressed up like a nurse to try to get him out of Happy Acres. It hadn't worked then because she hadn't thought it through enough. Could it work to get Uncle Merlin out? No. That was just asking for trouble. He didn't need his parents, or Dr. Gantan, thinking he was becoming a juvenile delinquent.

Another message came from Surfergirl11: "I have a beautiful costume for the Valentine's Day party." Tails had hoped to take Cosmo to it. Princess Sally had said it would be held in several rooms of the palace, each decorated in a different color. That sounded interesting, and Tails had hoped to get a chance to talk to Cosmo in the green room, assuming one of the rooms would be all green. That would be a nice place to spend some time with her. But now he just didn't know.

"I don't have a costume yet," he admitted. Cosmo would respond by assuring him she just knew that he'd come up with a great costume. What he got was another surprise.

"For shame! You shouldn't wait until the last minute!" This definitely wasn't Cosmo. Most likely Amy asking her what she wanted to say and then rewriting it. Amy fancied herself not only a matchmaker but recently as a romance writer. He cringed at the sudden thought that she'd probably make Cosmo read that romance novel she'd been working on.

"Sorry," he said, "I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"That's okay," came the reply. "So what projects are you working on?"

That sounded like a good safe subject to discuss, even though he knew Cosmo wouldn't understand a word he said.

…

There was a knock on the Prowers' front door. "Now who is it?" Amadeus demanded, getting up from his chair. "It had better not be that hobo again." He crossed the living room and opened the front door.

"Hey, Dad," Sanguine said, standing in the doorway. "Thanks. Forgot my key."

"Well, I was half right…" Amadeus muttered as his older son passed him and casually sank into the couch.

"How's tricks, Mom?" he asked Rosemary, who made a face.

"I've asked you before to avoid slang terms, young man," she said, getting up. "And take your shoes off before you lay down on the couch. Honestly, I don't know what to do with the two of you."

"What did Miles do this time?" Sanguine asked, pulling off one shoe and letting it fall with a thud onto the floor. "Blow the roof off the house? Dye everything in his workshop purple again?"

"Worse," his mother said huffily, pulling off his other shoe. She made a face as she placed them under the table. "Tomorrow I think we should go clothes shopping. No, that girl that had poor Miles so sick last year actually showed up alive, claiming she came back from the dead! Can you imagine someone claiming something like that?"

Sanguine had pulled a small bag of popcorn from one of the many pockets of his coat and had been munching while she spoke. At the mention that Cosmo was alive he had sputtered. "Cosmo you mean? Alive? What the hell?" He suddenly started coughing.

Rosemary patted him on the back. "Yes, yes, dear," she said, "I had pretty much the same reaction. But you shouldn't talk while you're eating, and I'll thank you to watch your language in this house." She went into the kitchen and came back a moment later with a cup of water which she set down in front of him.

"Here, dear, now just a sip," she said. "And really, you shouldn't be eating in the living room in the first place. I don't want to have to vacuum the couch so soon after getting back here again. So where have you been, and what mischief have you been getting into, I hesitate to ask."

Sanguine didn't answer for a couple of minutes while he struggled to stop coughing. Finally he said, "Oh, you know, a little of this and a little of that," he said. "Took a night course in…archaeology."

Rosemary looked doubtfully at her eldest. "Since when were you interested in science?" she demanded, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair she had sank into. She suddenly seemed to realize she was doing this and stopped, folding her hands together.

"Oh, I'm interested in a lot of things," he said.

Rosemary sighed. "Let me guess," she said. "There was a pretty girl in the class."

"Now, Mom," Sanguine said, sounding hurt as he reached for another handful of popcorn. "You know that's not all I'm interested in."

"Yes, dear," his mother agreed as he began to munch on the popcorn. "I know, but a classroom is hardly the place to find comic books or rubber noses or those dreadful little bags that make rude noises when you sit on them."

"I haven't used one of those things in years, Mom," Sanguine said. "And rubber noses are for special occasions."

"Oh, Simon," his mother said, shaking her head. "Your father and I had such high hopes for you. Look at you, eighteen years old and no prospects for the future." She made a face. "Unless you intend to draw comic books for a living…"

Sanguine looked away so that she wouldn't see his expression. Did she know, or was she just being facetious? But no, Miles was kind of a nerd, but he wouldn't fink on him like that.

"I can be serious when I have to," Sanguine told her. "It's just not my thing, you know what I mean?"

"Is that some odd talk you picked up while on that human planet?" his mother asked. "I'd ask you what you did while you were there but I have a feeling I don't really want to know."

Probably for the best, Sanguine thought. Knowing about the hippies would just upset her. Not to mention annoy his father.

"What exactly did you learn in this archaeology class of yours?" Amadeus inquired. "The study of ancient histories can't be very useful in attaining a job, and you're hardly the academician type. I can't see you spending the rest of your days in a museum or out on a dig trying to uncover bones of ancient reptiles."

"Didn't intend to go back quite so far, Dad," Sanguine said. "More like ancient civilizations. I don't know why you and Mom are so surprised. You knew I was always into lost cities and stuff like that."

"You're beginning to sound like your Uncle Merlin," Amadeus said. "And that's not a good thing. He spent his life studying old ruins and tablets and what did it ever get him? Do you know where he is now? Happy Acres."

Sanguine had produced a bag of peanuts from a pocket during the conversation and just started to eat them when his father said that. He choked agan and his mother patted him on the back.

"Yes, yes, dear," Rosemary said. "We're all shocked about the poor old fellow. But he's getting on in years and a nice old people's home is probably best for him. Now give me all of the food you have on you before you choke to death."

"So you had put him away?" Sanguine asked, begrudgingly handing his mother the bag of popcorn and the bag of peanuts. He also had a bag of candy but didn't give it to her. He intended to save it for later.

"No, actually, he was found somewhere incoherent from what I've been told and was taken there," Amadeus said. "He kept muttering something about robots from outer space."

"You don't think he could have seen robots from outer space?" Sanguine asked. "Miles did say he was fighting some with that Sonic guy."

Rosemary made a face. "Yes, well, that boy has always been getting poor little Miles into troublesome situations," she said.

"The thing is," Amadeus said, "Miles assured us the alien robots were all destroyed."

Sanguine started to say something then changed his mind. Best to check with Miles first, especially since what he was thinking would probably have his parents even angrier at his brother's little plant girl.

…

Tails was thinking of the next reply when he heard his door open. He pushed the phone down the collar of his pajama top and pretended to be asleep. Someone sat on the edge of his bed.

"Well, well, sounds like you've been busy while I was away." Tails rolled his eyes. Simon? What was he doing back here now of all times?

Tails continued to pretend he was asleep. Maybe if he ignored him his brother would go away.

"So you going to talk to your big brother face to face or would you rather be all clandestine about it?" Sanguine asked. "Can I be secret agent 006 and seven eighths?"

Tails sighed. His brother only went away when Tails wanted him to stay. "I really don't feel much like talking right now, Simon," he said at last.

"Look," Sanguine said softly, "I heard about mom and your girl. You want to see her, you're going to need your big brother's help."

Tails took a deep breath and let it out noisily. He was probably right. "So where do I start?" he asked, hoping he didn't come to regret his brother's offer of aid.

"I'm glad you asked," Sanguine said. "You know there's a dance coming up in a few days, right?"

"I know about the Valentine's Day dance Princess Sally is throwing at the castle," Tails said, pulling the blanket off his head. He looked around the room. His door was closed and his brother was the only other person in the room. "What good does it do me? I can't go with Cosmo. Mom and Dad would know."

"Nonsense," Sanguine said. "It's a masquerade."

"She doesn't have a nose," Tails pointed out. "And Mom knows she doesn't. What kind of disguise could she wear? Red clown nose? Big nose with a thick mustache?"

Sanguine shrugged. "She could come dressed like a robot with a space helmet on," he suggested.

"No way!" Tails cried. "That would be horrible! She…" He suddenly realized he was shouting. He lowered his voice. "I couldn't take seeing her in a suit of armor. And I know it would upset her too. You didn't see Yellow Zelkova…"

The door suddenly opened. "What's all the shouting about?" their father demanded.

"I asked him to build me a new car and he says he doesn't squander his genius on things like that," Sanguine said with a straight face.

"Wha…" Tails started to ask his brother what he was talking about, then realized Sanguine was trying to hide what they had really been discussing. "I never said that," he told his brother quickly, "I said I have other projects that are more important than giving you some wheels to go pick up girls with that have to come first."

"Some brother you are," Sanguine said, folding his arms and looking like he was actually annoyed at Tails. "See if I ever do you any favors, Brainiac."

"Simon, leave your brother alone," Amadeus said. "I can just imagine the crazy kind of vehicle you asked him to build for you. Big tail fins I'm sure, for one thing."

"Of course," Sanguine insisted, leaning against Tails' bedroom wall. "Tail fins are really cool! Gotta impress the chicks you know, Dad. Of course, what I'd really like would be something like the Batmobile…"

"I have no idea what that is, but I do know exactly the sort of 'chicks' you'd attract with a big crazy looking car," Amadeus said. "And I know how your mother would react if you brought them home with you."

Tails colored. This was not the sort of conversation he wanted to listen to. Had his parents actually thought Cosmo was that sort of "chick?" How was he ever going to convince them they were wrong about her? Again his mind came up empty. But he didn't want to spend the next ten years talking on the phone to Surfergirl11.

After talking a bit longer to them, their father finally said, "Well, I'll leave you two to get some rest. Don't keep Miles too late, Simon. He wants to come with me to see Merlin tomorrow. We should go early. Maybe around nine."

"Too early for me, Dad," Sanguine said. "I just want to visit a few minutes with my little bro. Do a bit of bonding, you know."

Amadeus left. Tails waited a minute then took out his phone. He saw he had a message. Not a text, a regular call. He looked at his brother, hoping he wouldn't give him away, then clicked the button. "Hello?" he said softly, looking at the door. "Who is this?"

"Hey, two tails," came a voice that sounded like a more feminine Sonic. "I think it would be very nice if you took Cream to the park tomorrow."

"Say what?" Tails said. "Anita, you know I'm not interested in…"

"Now, now," Anita said cheerfully, "she's a very nice girl and I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself. I'll arrange it with your parents now. Bye bye!"

"Now wait just a minute!" Tails said. "I…hello? Hello? She hung up on me!"

"Runs in the family," Sanguine said. "Get it? Sonic family? Runs?"

Tails was too shook up by what Anita had just said to really notice his brother's bad joke. "She's setting me up with Cream?" he said. "What is she thinking?" He got out of bed and looked out his window. If only he dared jump out and fly over to see Cosmo, just for a minute. But he expected his mother to show up at any time to kiss him good night and probably tuck him in like he was still four.

"Well, clearly she's thinking better than you are, bro," Sanguine said, laying down on Tails' bed and looking up at the ceiling. "Hey, how come your bed is more comfortable than mine?" he demanded.

"Because I take better care of my things," Tails said. "What do you mean she's thinking better than I am? I don't want to go out with Cream!"

"Shhh," his brother hissed. "Use your inside voice, kid," he said softly. He looked towards the door. "So I was thinking about making the world's biggest comic book," he said in a louder voice. "But I'm not really into the whole guys with incredible powers like running really fast thing, so I was thinking about what else I could put in it."

Tails made a face. It was obvious his brother had just insulted Sonic. "What does this have to do with anything?" he demanded.

Sanguine got up and stepped lightly towards the door. "Think I'll get a snack," he said, opening it and stepping halfway out of the room. Tails shook his head. His life was coming apart and his brother decided to go stuff his face right in the middle of a serious discussion? "Nah, maybe later," the older fox said, stepping back into the room and closing the door. He plopped back onto the bed again.

Tails sat down on the floor and said in a soft voice, "Okay, it's obvious you're up to something. What is it, or am I supposed to guess?"

His brother chuckled a little. "Just making sure no one was listening," he said, his voice also low. "You want to see Cosmo, you must realize you can't do it here."

Tails nodded. "Of course I realize that," he said. "What are you getting at?"

"So if you want to see her, you need to go someplace else," his brother said, putting his hands behind his head. "Which means you need a place to go and a reason to go."

"What does that have to do with…" Tails blinked. Then he shook his head. "Oh no," he said. "I'm not going to say I'm seeing Cream then really seeing Cosmo," he said. "Cream fell for me last year and she's still getting over realizing it won't work between us. There's no way I'd hurt her by saying I liked her that way when I don'!"

"She'd know you're not really seeing her," Sanguine pointed out, turning towards him.

Tails shook his head again. "No way!" he insisted. "That would make her feel terrible, pretending I'm seeing her when she knows it's a lie. I can't do that to her. She's one of my best friends."

Sanguine considered this a minute. "Well, we can always wait until the fat guy sends another robot," he finally said. "Mom and Dad will probably let you help fight him. If you make it clear that Cosmo wouldn't be there."

"I wouldn't want her there," Tails said, leaning his head against his dresser. "I don't want her to get hurt fighting. Eggman's become more dangerous than he used to be."

"Wasn't exactly expecting the two of you to have a romantic conversation during a battle," Sanguine said. "You're thinking too literally. You don't have to rush right home after a battle, you know. Nobody takes a watch into combat and checks to see when it's over."

Actually, Tails knew someone that probably would. Antoine. He wondered how the coyote would have gotten along with his father if Antoine had been a Prower. Would his father have been embarrassed when Antoine did something stupid or cowardly or would he have been impressed that Ant always did everything strictly by the book like a good soldier?

"Oh, there's something else we need to discuss," Sanguine said, leaning back against the wall. "It's about Uncle Merlin."

Tails jumped up, sputtering. "Can you believe it?" he demanded. "They put him in Happy Acres and Dad's thinking of leaving him there!"

"Inside voice," Sanguine reminded him. "Did you get what else they said about him? That when he woke up he said he had been fighting a robot? An _alien _robot?"

Tails sighed. "I know," he said, sitting down again. "A Metarex. There are still some left, although we've broken their power and most of their leaders are dead now." But not all, he remembered. Red Pine was still out there. Had no doubt sent the robot Uncle Merlin had battled to get Cosmo. But how? The device wasn't in her head any more so how had he known that she was about to come back?

"They're saying he's not all there because he said he fought that thing," Sanguine continued. "Dad thinks he imagined it because you told him all of those Metalix guys were destroyed."

Tails jumped up again. "So if we tell him some of them are still around, and Uncle Merlin really did fight one, they should let him out!" he said hopefully.

"It might start a panic," Sanguine pointed out.

"It's no scarier really than knowing that Eggman could send out robots at any time," Tails assured him. He crossed his room. "I'll go tell Mom and Dad that right now!"

"Miles, wait!" Sanguine said, sitting up and placing a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Think first before you do that!"

Tails turned back towards his brother, hand on the doorknob. "It's better if people know they might show up and be prepared for them than have them just suddenly show up," Tails insisted.

"It's not just that," Sanguine added, standing up. "Have you thought what that will do to Cosmo?"

Tails blinked. "You mean she'll worry when she finds out they've reached this world?" Tails said. "She's been expecting this since she came back. I'm sure she can deal with it and…"

"That's not what I meant," Sanguine said, shaking his head. "Miles, Mom and Dad already think Cosmo tricked you into thinking she's dead and now she's conning you again by saying she miraculously came back to life."

Tails snorted. "It's ridiculous," he said through clenched teeth. "If they knew her they wouldn't think that."

"But they don't know her," Sanguine pointed out. "What they do know is that Cosmo was supposed to be dead and now she isn't. And all the Metal guys were supposed to be dead and now _they_ aren't."

"Get to the point," Tails said crossly. "Just what are you driving at?"

"After all these months," Sanguine said softly, "Cosmo and one of those guys both show up the same day? In our backyard? Do you see the problem?"

"What are you talking about?" Tails demanded. "I don't see…" But then he did. His eyes grew wide. Then he sat down and hung his head. "If I tell Mom and Dad that Uncle Merlin saw a Metarex at the same time that Cosmo came back…they might decide that she's connected with them somehow." Actually, she _had_ been connected to them, but that was no longer the case. Anyway, he hadn't told anyone that Cosmo had been a spy for the Metarex except his brother and…Doctor Gantan. If she'd told his parents…

Tails buried his head in his hands. "Now I don't know what to do!" he said sadly. "If I don't say something, we might not be able to get Uncle Merlin out of that place, but if I do, they might accuse Cosmo of coming to Mobius in a Metarex ship as an advanced scout or something."

Sanguine patted his brother's head. "Maybe we can get Merlin out without having to say anything," he said. "Come on, bro, you never used to give up so easy."

"I know," Tails said, clenching his fists. "And I won't give up now. I'll get him out of there somehow, _and _find a way to be with Cosmo!"

"That's the spirit," Sanguine said, yawning and stretching. "Well, I'll leave you to plan the next step while I get some sleep."

Tails sputtered. "You drop a bombshell like that on me and now you're going off to take a snooze?" he cried. "Of all the…"

"Sorry, Miles," Sanguine said, opening the door to Tails' room and stepping out into the hall. "But you know I do my best thinking after a nap. And it's been a long day. Best to rest up until morning. Night, bro."

Tails face palmed. Every time he thought his brother was helping him out the guy pulled something like this on him. Well, it _was _late, and maybe he'd think better alone, anyway. He got back into bed, closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate on the situation. Perhaps if he contacted Sonic and Knuckles and they were able to deal with the rest of the Metarex…but that could take days, weeks, maybe even months, and meant tracking down Red Pine, wherever he was hiding. And it wasn't likely his mom and dad would let him take off into space. He sighed. Things just kept getting more and more complicated.

Surfergirl11 logged in once more that day to say, "Gotta go. Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite." Tails rolled his eyes at that one and only replied with, "I won't. Good night."

The door to his room opened again just after he'd placed his phone in his dresser and closed the drawer. "Lights out, honey," his mother said. "I got a call from that Parlouzer girl." She sounded like she'd just smelled something spoiled. "She was talking about you taking out that little bunny to the park."

"Er, well…" Tails said.

She interrupted him. "She seems all right, as long as you're not getting serious about her," she said.

"Cream and I are just friends," Tails said honestly.

"You're not planning to sneak off and talk to that plant girl, are you?" his mother asked, looking him in the eyes.

Tails struggled to keep his emotions under control as he said, "I might see a lot of people I know. You can't expect me to stop visiting my friends."

"Of course I don't, dear," his mother said, patting him on the head. "But just to be sure, I'm asking your brother to go with you as chaperone."

Tails sputtered. What the? "Mom…"

"Now, Miles," Rosemary said, folding her arms, "I want you to know that I trust you completely, but I know how a young boy's head can get turned around by a pretty face. Now it's settled and you'll just have to accept it. Good night, honey."

He put up with his mother tucking him in and kissing his cheek and everything. When she left he started thinking again. But nothing came to mind and the day had been long and crazy. He shut his eyes, deciding to just rest a second before he went back to planning what to do next. Before he knew it Miles Prower was sound asleep.

…

"When will I be able to destroy Eggman?" Omega demanded, turning his head towards his companion.

"Soon," Rouge assured the robot. "But there's no hurry. Eggman's not going anyplace. Don't you have any other interests?" His constant "Destroy Eggman!" comments were getting boring.

"That does not compute," Omega said expressionlessly. "Robots are not meant to have interests. They are meant to have a purpose and fulfill that purpose. Nothing else is important. And this unit's purpose is to destroy Doctor Eggman. It is that simple." A mechanic that owed Rouge a favor had managed to do some repairs on the machine without asking too many questions, but he wasn't a genius like Eggman or even Tails, and the automaton was no where near in tip top condition. At the moment he couldn't have destroyed Eggman if he'd tried, even with Rouge's help.

"Eggman's not going to be easy to catch," Rouge pointed out, sitting down on a rock. They had gone into the wilderness to train. She felt rusty, and disgusted in herself for the way she'd reacted when Cosmo had transformed. If that happened again she wanted to be ready, and having a sparring partner larger than she was, even if smaller than the Seedrian when she transformed, was bound to help. "He may act like a giggling moron but that fiendish brain of his is working all the time."

"Immaterial," Omega said. "Eggman will still be destroyed!"

"And then what will you do?" Rouge demanded. "After Eggman's dead, I mean."

Omega's head spun around. "That does not compute. Prime objective is to destroy Doctor Eggman! Prime objective will be fulfilled! I will destroy Doctor Eggman! Destroy!"

Rouge chuckled softly. "Wow, talk about obsessive…" she muttered.

Omega started off without warning, hurrying across the frozen field, as he had a tendency to do every so often. Rouge suspected his brain wasn't quite running on all cylinders, or whatever the thing used for a brain. With Eggman, one could never tell what materials might have been used.

…

"Amadeus," Rosemary said to her husband as they were getting ready for bed. "There's a big romantic party being held at the castle next week. I think Simon and Miles should both attend. Of course I'll be arranging their dates and naturally I'll come with them as a chaperone."

Amadeus nodded as he hung up his coat. "Of course, dear," he agreed. It was always best to keep her happy. "It's time Simon took interest in the proper sort of girl. Someone that will support him in his business endeavors, not giggle inanely and chew gum during important social meetings." He made a face as he pulled off his boots. "That is, of course, once I get him into a respectable line of work."

"And hopefully a few dates with a decent girl will make Miles forget all about that strange little creature he's been so obsessed with for so long," Rosemary said, pulling her nightgown over her head. "Honestly, if everyone hadn't insisted that she was dead, and she hadn't actually told me the very same thing, I might have liked that strange little girl. She seemed so nice, and I don't think she was trying to con me. But seriously, the Parlouzer boy turned her into a seed and she grew like a weed in Miles' greenhouse? I mean, all right, I understand she's some sort of plant thing, but you don't grow the same plant from its seed."

"I think Miles told me once something about thinking she was growing a new body or something odd like that," Amadeus said, buttoning his pajama top. "What I don't understand is why she stuck with that story when she came back? Did she really think everyone was stupid enough to believe all that folderol?" He shook his head. "I thought Miles was too bright for that."

"He is still a little boy, Amadeus," Rosemary pointed out, sitting down on the bed. "And a boy experiencing the pain and confusion of first love. But it is strange that everyone thought she was dead when she clearly isn't. She certainly didn't seem bright enough to plan such an elaborate hoax."

Amadeus rubbed his chin. "I never got the full story, and I think they were hiding part of it," he said, "but that girl had some sort of connection to those robots Miles said they fought last year. What did he call them? 'Metelex?'" He considered this for awhile. "Huh," he added at last. "That's odd…"

"What is, dear?" his wife asked, stretching out on their bed and closing her eyes. "We've certainly seen more than our share of robots in the past few years."

"They said when they put Merlin in the home that he claimed he'd fought one of those alien 'Metelex' robots," Amadeus said, staring at the wall. "He seemed very agitated about it. I'm going to have to talk to him about that when I see him. It's strange that he'd be talking about them just when that girl suddenly shows up…"

"You don't think that girl could be working for these 'Metal Icks" do you?" Rosemary asked. "I think she has some mental problems, but she didn't seem criminal. But that reminds me of something I heard Miles and that Amy girl talking about months ago." She sat up. "Something like 'It wasn't her fault she was a spy, you know that!' They stopped talking when they noticed I was there and something distracted me so I forgot to ask Miles about it later. Miles said those robots were all destroyed, but if some did survive, and that girl is working for them…"

"Then Merlin may be trying to warn us about that girl," Amadeus said, turning off the light and getting into bed. "Yes, I definitely need to speak with him at some length about that robot."

"Do you really think it's best to just leave poor old Merlin in that dreadful place?" his wife asked, lacing her fingers together. "You remember how bad it was for poor Miles?"

"It's not like we can watch him all day and night," Amadeus said. "We don't want him forgetting where he lives and wandering around somewhere alone, maybe into that human maniac's territory." He sighed. "I love the old coot too, you know, but we have to think of what's best for him.

"I think we should discuss this further in the morning," Rosemary said stifling a yawn. "Good night, dear."

"Good night, precious," Amadeus said, placing his hand on her back and kissing her lips.

…

Red Pine leaned back in his easy chair. He pulled back the sleeves of his dressing gown and picked up a crystal goblet. Ah, it was good to be out of that confining armor. Lucas' injuries after his insane wife's attack on them had made him a prisoner of his armor, and he had insisted on his kings always wearing theirs. Marcus grimaced at the memories of having to follow such an unpleasant and obsessive leader. He emptied the cup then tossed it at the wall. As it shattered he pulled himself to his feet and yawned. Well, time to see if his plan would work. He crossed the large room filled with spoils from a hundred planets and pressed a button. The door slid open. He stepped out into the hallway, which began to move under his slippered feet. He remembered the day Dark Oak had sent the Hellship after the women. Fool! What was he thinking, wiping out all of their females! Marcus had suspected for awhile that Lucas had lost his mind, but that decision had proven it to him.

They had all objected, he and the others, even that fool, Zelkova. But Oak had been insistent.

"They can't be trusted!" he'd said, smashing the arm of the chair he had been sitting on with a blow that only the Yellow King could have matched. "Have you forgotten what they did to us? To our soldiers?"

"That was Hertia's doing," Pale Bay Leaf had pointed out. "That doesn't mean all of the women should be eliminated, Lucas."

"And we all know she bombed us because she hated you," Black Narcissus added. "You really have a way with the women, boss." That comment got him knocked across the room. Their armor augmented their natural strength by a considerable degree, but even so Narcissus was still a weakling.

"I could kill you for that!" Dark Oak had said, reaching for his sword. It had taken Pine, Zelkova, and Bay Leaf working together to drag him away from the stunned inventor. Not that Marcus would have minded seeing Narcissus get his head handed to him. Narcissus and Bay Leaf had never made it a secret that they considered Pine beneath them. No better than Zelkova, he'd heard them say. Zelkova!

Red Pine forced his emotions back under his control. That was what he had been noted for. Control. For the calm, cool way he behaved even in combat. Not that it had been easy at times. But here he was, still alive, and the others all long dead and all but forgotten. And everything that had been Oak's and the other kings' were his now.

Including this…

He stepped off the moving floor and walked up to a specially made door. Only Black Narcissus' retinal scan could open the previous door that had stood there when he had found it. Getting the door open without destroying it and whatever was behind it hadn't been easy, but Marcus had been certain that anything so well protected must have been important, and when he'd finally gotten through the door he'd learned just how right he was. Had Dark Oak known what he was doing? Perhaps he had ordered it. Perhaps that was why he had been willing to sacrifice the women. Well, neither of them would be answering any questions now. Not that it truly mattered why Narcissus had done what he had done, only that he had.

Pine walked into the chamber and switched on the overhead lights. He crossed several tanks until he reached a particular one that had immediately attracted his attention. The one that made him wonder if perhaps after all that had happened it might be possible for him to return to the way it had been before the war. Unlikely, true. It would not be a simple matter to put things back like before. But he was patient. He could afford to wait.

The only problem of course was the fact that the ones that stopped Dark Oak might interfere with _his_ plans as well. He'd have to deal with them, especially Sonic and Shadow. And then there was Cosmo. As the last Seedrian other himself and Pink Andromeda, she, like everything he had taken from the emperor and the other kings, was his by right. And he meant to have her as well as everything else.

Andromeda. The first of what he hoped to one day be an army. If everything worked, that was. A silly creature with her head in the clouds, but then, that was hardly surprising considering her origin. Perhaps Willow was right and she wasn't ready yet to serve him. But then she had done fairly well so far, despite her childish behavior and frequent tantrums. He wondered what Galaxina would think if she knew she had become a mother? Not that it mattered much. It was, after all, the purpose for females.

He checked the control panel in the room. He almost had everything he needed now. All that was left was to get the real chaos emeralds when he took Cosmo and he would accomplish things Dark Oak couldn't even imagine!

He checked the generators. Seven fake chaos emeralds were in place. If only they would work as well, even temporarily, as the real ones. Just for this one attempt. He turned on the turbines. Current flashed between several electrodes, a brilliant bluish-purple in color. He pressed several buttons in sequence. Lucky that Narcissus had left ample notes behind. He hadn't been able to make much sense of them but Willow had managed to translate. That robot was more useful to him that he normally cared to admit. He didn't like that. Didn't like having to rely on anyone or anything, not even a machine that was completely loyal to him. Well, he could put up with her if he got the results he wanted.

Marcus put on a pair of special protective goggles. His helmet optic lenses would have done just as well, but he didn't like wearing it. It felt stifling inside of all that hardware.

He flipped a switch, watched as an arrow moved slowly in a partial circle. A little more…a little…

Blast! One of the fake emeralds had shorted out and dissolved! He shut off the machinery. There was no doubt about it. He had to have the real ones if he wanted this to work. He left the room, locking the door behind him. He'd sent Andromeda to Sonic's planet to make Cosmo hated so that she'd have little reason to want to remain there. Tracking down the emeralds would probably be beyond her mental capacity. He'd have to go himself. Just a few things needed to be seen to first.

…

_Mother! Mother…what's happened? I…felt so…strange just now!_

_What is it, Galaxina? What did you sense?_

_I…I don't know, Mother. I-I can't describe it. In all the time I've been here I've never felt anything like that! What…what was it? What happened to me?_

_I…I am not certain, my dear…but I have my suspicions. We must wait and see if they prove correct._

_But can't you tell me what you suspect, Mother?_

_Not yet…I may be wrong. If I am it's best I say nothing. If I am correct…well, we'll know soon enough._

_But I don't understand! Mother, I'm frightened! For the first time since I came here…I am afraid!_

_As am I, Galaxina…as am I…_

What's happening to Galaxina, and how will it affect Cosmo in the land of the living? Maybe we'll all find out soon.

(Once again I'd like to apologize for the long gap between chapters. Hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner. Thank you for your patience.)

…


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